A Collection of Ordinances and Regulations for the Government of the Royal Household, made in divers reigns. From King Edward III to King William and Queen Mary. Also Receipts in Ancient Cookery -
1790 - Printed for the Society of Antiquaries by John Nichols, London - First Edition
A fine example of this important collection of ordinances and regulations on the stewardship of the Royal House of England.
‘Most of these texts appear here for the first time from manuscripts preserved in various English libraries (Harleian, Cotton, the Society of Antique Dealers, Thomas Astle, etc). They form a source of first-rate information about table manners, protocol, menus, feasts, official holidays, table and cellar service, expense accounts, lists of the officers of fine dining, of the wardrobe, etc. and contain numerous pieces of information about all the products used in the royal kitchens, the grocery stores, kitchen gardens, farmyards, Crown breweries, about the composition of breakfasts, dinners, suppers and princes’ snacks, about the names, salaries and roles of the staff.
At the end of these prescriptions, pages 423 to 476 are dedicated to a ‘Collection of Old English Recipes’, extracts from a manuscript from the Arundel Collection, kept in the Royal Society library. This manuscript dates from the 15th century but the recipes could be a lot older. It is undoubtedly the ‘Oldest Culinary Recipe Book’ in England. The spelling of the manuscript has been preserved.
This important and rare publication was carried out at the expense of the Society of Antique Dealers in London. It is a collection of 20 texts, ordinances, edicts etc, from the 15th century to the end of the 17th century, concerning the functioning of the English Royal Household from the reign of Edward III until 1689, by way of Henry VI (1455), Prince Edward (1474), Edward IV’s Black Book of the Royal Household, the house of George Duke of Clarence in 1469, Henry VIII in 1526; Queen Elizabeth, King James in 1604, etc.’ [Oberlé] Provenance: From the library of Edward Hailstone (1818-1890), a Yorkshire solicitor, churchwarden, book collector, and antiquary, with his red leather bookplate ornately decorated with coat of arms and lettering in gilt. Hailstone left his sizeable library to York Minster.
References: Bitting, Gastronomic Bibliography, 532. Oxford, English Cookery Books, 119. Maclean, Household and Cookery Books, 30. Cagle, A Matter of Taste, 624. Oberlé, Fastes de Bacchus, 97. Pennell, My Cookery Books, 164.
Quarto (binding size 29.6x24.2cm), pp. xxii 476. Bound to style in half vellum over speckled boards, smooth spine, marbled endpapers, lower edge partially untrimmed, others edges lightly trimmed. Condition: Fine in near fine binding with light soiling and yellowing of vellum. Ref: 111817 Price: HK$ 5,000
‘Most of these texts appear here for the first time from manuscripts preserved in various English libraries (Harleian, Cotton, the Society of Antique Dealers, Thomas Astle, etc). They form a source of first-rate information about table manners, protocol, menus, feasts, official holidays, table and cellar service, expense accounts, lists of the officers of fine dining, of the wardrobe, etc. and contain numerous pieces of information about all the products used in the royal kitchens, the grocery stores, kitchen gardens, farmyards, Crown breweries, about the composition of breakfasts, dinners, suppers and princes’ snacks, about the names, salaries and roles of the staff.
At the end of these prescriptions, pages 423 to 476 are dedicated to a ‘Collection of Old English Recipes’, extracts from a manuscript from the Arundel Collection, kept in the Royal Society library. This manuscript dates from the 15th century but the recipes could be a lot older. It is undoubtedly the ‘Oldest Culinary Recipe Book’ in England. The spelling of the manuscript has been preserved.
This important and rare publication was carried out at the expense of the Society of Antique Dealers in London. It is a collection of 20 texts, ordinances, edicts etc, from the 15th century to the end of the 17th century, concerning the functioning of the English Royal Household from the reign of Edward III until 1689, by way of Henry VI (1455), Prince Edward (1474), Edward IV’s Black Book of the Royal Household, the house of George Duke of Clarence in 1469, Henry VIII in 1526; Queen Elizabeth, King James in 1604, etc.’ [Oberlé] Provenance: From the library of Edward Hailstone (1818-1890), a Yorkshire solicitor, churchwarden, book collector, and antiquary, with his red leather bookplate ornately decorated with coat of arms and lettering in gilt. Hailstone left his sizeable library to York Minster.
References: Bitting, Gastronomic Bibliography, 532. Oxford, English Cookery Books, 119. Maclean, Household and Cookery Books, 30. Cagle, A Matter of Taste, 624. Oberlé, Fastes de Bacchus, 97. Pennell, My Cookery Books, 164.
Quarto (binding size 29.6x24.2cm), pp. xxii 476. Bound to style in half vellum over speckled boards, smooth spine, marbled endpapers, lower edge partially untrimmed, others edges lightly trimmed. Condition: Fine in near fine binding with light soiling and yellowing of vellum. Ref: 111817 Price: HK$ 5,000