Basileae: Joannes Valderus, 1535. Quarto, [34], 333, [1]. Text in Greek, with editor's notes in Latin & Greek.

Second edition. One of the most important works of late classical antiquity dealing with food, wine, and table customs. Dating from the third century A.D. the book is a fictionalized symposium of twenty one artists, writers, musicians and surgeons, discussing all things that, according to Greek custom, should adorn a banquet. The names of the most famous gastronomers and most celebrated cooks are recorded, and the text of a recipe from a lost cookbook by Mithaecus is quoted – the earliest recipe by a named author in any language. The virtues and qualities of various wines are the subjects of lengthy discourses. Table ornament and decoration are also treated. Rebound in modern half-vellum, text-block trimmed. Generally very good internally, with a touch of foxing to some leaves, and pages supple. With the bookplate of Anne Willan, noted authority on French food, founder of the prestigious Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne and, with her husband Mark, truly great cookbook collectors. This edition very scarce in the trade.

[OCLC locates eight copies, only one in the U.S,. at the University of Kansas; this edition not listed in Bitting, Cagle, or Vicaire]. $4500.

Amstelaedami: Apud Henricum Wetstenium [Wetstein, Hendrik], 1689. Duodecimo (133x78 mm), [12, including additional engraved title], 445, [23] pages; 6 leaves of plates (5 folding), and numerous full-page engravings. All edges red.

Fifth edition; the first appeared in Rome in 1588. A "remarkable study of the ancient Roman table: the feast, invitations, the dishes, composition of the table, etc. Several chapters are devoted to drinking, generosity toward guests, the nobility of old wine, wine and music, mixing wine, fresh wine, etc." (Oberlé (my translation)). In full green calf, with elaborate gilt decoration to the spine and boards. Very good. With the booksellers' tickets of Cooks Books and R.F.G. Hollett. Scarce.

[OCLC locates nineteen copies; Bitting 89; Cagle 1079 (first edition only); Oberlé 20, 21 (earlier editions); Simon BB 311; Vicaire 174]. $1200.

A Paris: Chez Giguet et Michaud, Imprimeurs-Libraires, rue des Bons-enfans, no. 6, 1803 (an 11.). Duodecimo (14 x 9 cm.), 176 pages. Frontispiece. Prefatory letter in verse, signed: "J.B. ...", i.e. Joseph Berchoux.

Second Edition, revised and enlarged.With the famous frontispiece engraved by Bovinet, the caption of which reads, "Le Senat mit aux voix cette affaire importante et le turbot fut mis a la sauce piquant [trans: the Senate put this important affair to the vote, and the turbot was put in a spicy sauce"]. By his first employment of the word "gastronomie" Berchoux joined the other two food writing giants of his era, Brillat-Savarin and Grimod de la Reyniere. Some light spotting, otherwise internally near fine. In a blue paste paper over one quarter calf, with compartmented, gilt-titled and decorated spine. Some wear to corners and rubbing to boards. The edge where the paste paper meets the calf has an interesting and attractive scallop-cut pattern we have not see before. Very good. With the bookplate of F.M. Caye.

[OCLC records are particularly muddled on this title and utterly useless here; Bitting, page 37; Oberlé 386; Vicaire Bibliographie Gastronomique 83]. $500.

Valencia: La Imprenta de Estevan, 1820. Duodecimo, 227, 1 pages. Illustrated with an engraved frontispiece. Publisher's advertisement at rear. All edges yellow.

FIRST EDITION of this Spanish verse translation by Jose de Urcullu of Joseph de Berchoux' popular poetic miscellany on the pleasures of a countryman's table. In full tree calf, with gilt spine decoration and label. With the bookseller ticket of Barcelona's Ramon Inder to the marbled front paste-down. Small adhesion of the free front endpaper to the paste-down, otherwise very good.

[OCLC cites seven locations, four in the U.S.]. $500.

Paris: L.G. Michaud, Libraire-Editeur, 1829. Four volumes in two. Duodecimo, 226; 210 & 216; 216 pages. With four frontispiece engravings.

A handsome early collection of the works of Berchoux, who is credited with popularizing the word "gastronomy" with the first poem of this collection. Quarter green calf bindings, with gilt titled and decorated spines. Spines darkened, and some rubbing and edgewear to the boards, otherwise very good. Lord Westbury's copies, with his bookplate to both volumes. Scarce.

[OCLC locates three copies of this edition; Vicaire 83-84; Provenance: The Westbury Collection of Cookery Books, Sotheby's 1965, lot 62]. $350.

Paris: Sautelet et Cie., 1826. Two volumes, octavo, xiv, 390 & 449 pages.

FIRST EDITION. Brillat-Savarin's Physiologie du Gout was published in an edition of 500 copies, appearing only two months after the author's death. The book is a comprehensive philosophy of the palate and of the table, and far beyond, presented in a series of thirty meditations on subjects such as the senses, taste, appetite, gastronomy, restaurateurs, cooking, fasting, obesity, death, sleep, rest and dreams. Brillat-Savarin was an attorney and magistrate who fled France during the Terror, living in Switzerland and New York until his return after the fall of Robespierre in 1796. The work secured his eternal fame among gastronomes. M.F.K. Fisher – whose translation of Brillat-Savarin's work still stands as the best – commends this book for its straightforward and unornamented prose in an era of florid writing, but the intellectual range and invention of the work is anything but simple. At the very outset: "1. The Universe is nothing without the things that live in it, and everything that lives eats. 2. Animals feed themselves; men eat; but only wise men know the art of eating. 3. The destiny of nations depends on how they nourish themselves." It may be noted that Brillat-Savarin regularly refers to his gastronomic experience in America. Contemporary quarter calf and marbled boards Light wear at extremities, otherwise very good.

[Cagle 98; Crahan 491; Oberle 144; Vicaire 116; Wheaton & Kelly 860]. $9,000.

London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts, 1859. Small octavo, 244, 24 pages.

FIRST U.K. EDITION, and the first edition of the English language translation of Leonard Francis Simpson. The first English language translation was that of Fayette Robinson, published in Philadelphia in 1854. Simpson's translation here is quite unfaithful to the original, admitting in the Introduction that "Many parts are, however, condensed, others omitted, as not suited to the present tone of society." Subsequent editions of Simpson's translation strayed even further, with emphasis placed on a rejection of gourmandise, even changing the title to, The Handbook of Dining; or, Corpulence and Leanness Scientifically Considered Comprising the art of dining on correct principles consistent with easy digestion, the avoidance of corpulency, and the cure of leanness. Quite a departure from Brillat-Savarin's original. But the translator did have high hopes for this book to affect a change upon Britain. The Translator's Preface takes the form of a discussion among Olympians, where the goddess Gasterea speaks up to Jupiter, informing him that, "There is a race... of bold sea-girt islanders who worship me well in their way; indeed, mighty fires of coal never cease to burn in my honour; but it a melancholy fact, that London does not know 'How to Dine!'" proposing a Reform movement starting with this book. A lovely copy, in gilt-titled clue cloth, with a pattern of pink polka-dots. With previous owner's bookplate to the front paste-down, and a binder's ticket to the rear paste-down. Near fine.

[OCLC records thirty-five copies; Bitting, page 437; Cagle 580; Craig 14]. $1000.

New York: D. Appleton and Company, 443 & 445 Broadway, 1865. Small octavo (18.5 x 12 cm.), 200, [4] pages. Advertisements.

The First American Edition of Leonard Francis Simpson's English language translation of Brillat-Savarin's Physiologie du Gout. The earliest English language translation was that of Fayette Robinson, published in Philadelphia in 1854. Simpson's translation here is quite unfaithful to the original, admitting in the introduction that "Many parts are, however, condensed, others omitted, as not suited to the present tone of society." Starting in 1864, editions of Simpson's translation (published in the UK) strayed even further, with emphasis placed on a rejection of gourmandise, and the title to what we have here. Quite a departure from Brillat-Savarin's original. But the translator did have high hopes for this book to affect a change upon Britain, and presumably in America with this issue. The Translator's Preface has been omitted in this edition, which is a shame, as it takes the form of a discussion among Olympians, where the goddess Gasterea speaks up to Jupiter, informing him that, "There is a race... of bold sea-girt islanders who worship me well in their way; indeed, mighty fires of coal never cease to burn in my honour; but it a melancholy fact, that London does not know 'How to Dine!'" The author proposes a reform movement starting with this book. In publisher's blind ruled and gilt-titled burgundy cloth. Very near fine.

[Bitting, page 437; Cagle 104]. $600.

Philadelphia: E.L. Carey & A. Hart, Chestnut Street; Stereotyped by L. Johnson, 1837. 24mo. (14 x 10 cm.), 267, [1] pages.

FIRST EDITION IN BOOK FORM. This collection of food essays first appeared in the London weekly journal, The Original, published by the author from May through December of 1835. A bound volume of The Original which included these essays appeared in 1836. A second edition was published New York, 1874, and a third in 1881 with the modified title, Aristology, or, The Art of Dining. Later editions of the book have been incorrectly attributed to Abraham Hayward, author of The Art of Dining; or, Gastronomy and Gastronomers (London, 1852). Thomas Walker (1784-1836) was an English lawyer, police magistrate, and gourmet. The word "aristology", which was added to the head of the title in later editions, was of his own coinage, and described his simple, unaffected approach to dining. In publisher’s embossed cloth binding, with gilt title to front board. Some spotting to cloth, wear to spine edges, and cloth separating on front hinge (but hinge holding).

[OCLC locates just one copy (and twenty-nine microform copies, but we will assume many of these are books; Bitting, page 519; Checklist of American Imprints 48324; Lowenstein 204]. $300.

Paris: Publié par J. Hetzel, 1846. Octavo, 184, iv pages. Illustrated by Bertall.

FIRST EDITION. A significant work of early nineteenth-century gastronomy which, though small by comparison, stands alongside the works of Brillat-Savarin and Dumas. The illustrator Bertall was one of the most prolific French illustrators of the nineteenth century, and a pioneering photographer. A translation with an excellent introduction by J. Weintraub was published in 2018 by Oxford. Very good or better in handsome green patterned paper over contemporary dark blue calf, spine decorated. With the bookplate of Louis de Villeperdrix, and his signature to a preliminary blank.

[Cagle 97; Vicaire 115; not in Oberlé]. $450.

[N.p.: by the author], 1890. Octavo (18 x 12.5 cm.), 216 pages.

Later edition of a work first published by James Osgood in 1880 and later by Fairbanks, Palmer in 1883 and 1890. The author promises to "not add another to the list of abominations miscalled cook-books, in which it is impossible to find a recipe whereby an unskilled or inexperienced housewife can make a loaf of bread equal to that made by our best bakers." Instead Mrs. Ewing has given us an earnest and occasionally breezy dialogue with a touch of modern romance. Throughout, there are cooking tips and recipes in dialogue form. Some of the book takes place in, or draws references from, Europe. Had it been set in Provence, I'd now be describing it as the Ur-text of an entire sub-genre of chick lit. Still, it's an early example of the chatty modern narrative cookbook, and a charming one at that. Internally a bit of age-toning and foxing, but otherwise bright and clean. The black and gilt-stamped brown cloth has some very light wear, but it otherwise very good. $200.

New York: Harper & Brothers, Franklin Square, 1890. Octavo (19 x 13.5 cm.), xii, 214 pages. Advertisements. Illustrations in the text.

FIRST EDITION. An interesting and often charming late nineteenth-century American work of gastronomy. The author goes to great lengths to unfavorably compare American and British cooking with French, and holds up Whistler's Peacock Room for the Leyland house as an example of a properly decorated dining room. Included are interesting sections on the history of dining tables and on accepting or declining dinner invitations from friends whose skill at providing a fine meal is lacking. Child also thinks the sad state of dining in America needs governmental attention, to whit, "I have wondered, for instance, why, in countries where rational governments exist, and where a minister is appointed to attend to the the interests of the fine arts, with, under him, directors, deputy directors, and a dozen grades of minor functionaries, no emperor, king or republic has yet thought of creating a Minister of Gastronomy." Some light foxing, otherwise very good, in publisher's decorated cloth with an interesting, rug-like design in black, gold and silver. Very light edgewear and soil to cloth, otherwise near very good or better. Ownership signature in year of publication to front free end paper.

[Bitting, page 87]. $100.

Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, [1923]. Octavo (19 x 13 cm.), xxxii, 179, [1]] pages.

Third edition, revised and enlarged, and now with the new title A Guide for the Greedy; therefore first edition with this title. The original did include the subtitle, Diary of a Greedy Woman, so the theme had been established. Interestingly, the book was issued in between these with yet another title, The Delights of Delicate Eating. It would be interesting to have listened in at the editorial meeting that led to these title changes. The author, an American writer who spent much of her adult life in London with her husband, the artist Joseph Pennell, has been described as "an adventurous, accomplished, self-assured, well-known columnist, biographer, cookbook collector, and art critic" who "paved the way for food writers such as Elizabeth David, M. F. K. Fisher, and Jane Grigson,"(Jacqueline Block Williams, in the introduction to The Delights of Delicate Eating). She was likely one of the most visible cookbook collectors in history, as she frequently wrote of her collection in her column in the Pall Mall Gazette, which formed the basis of this work. The new introduction to this edition speaks of her collection, of its uses, the loss of many volumes during the First World War, and the donation of the remainder to the Library of Congress. Some age-toning to text block, a bit of discoloration to endpapers. In publisher's gold printed gray-green cloth. In the scarce dust jacket, with some wear to corners, and a bit of light foxing ad soiling. Still, about very good. Scarce in dust jacket. $150.00

London: Royal Palace Hotel, [circa 1930]. Booklet, stapled in wrappers (20.5 x 13 cm.), [10] pages. Illustrated throughout.

FIRST EDITION. A delightful short disquisition on a good dinner as a metaphor for a good life, issued as a promotional item for the grand restaurant Lucullus in the Royal Palace Hotel. Described by Osbert Sitwell as the original "bright young thing", Beverley Nichols was a prolific author of poetry, novels, and non-fiction, perhaps best known for his large body of charming works on the subjects of gardening and country life. Some light soiling internally; bumping to corners. In color decorated wrappers. Very scarce.

[OCLC locates no copies]. $300.

London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 36 Essex Street W.C.; [printed by] Butler & Tanner Ltd., [1932]. Small octavo (19.5 x 12 cm.), 137, [1] pages.

FIRST EDITION. A collection of thoughts – not quite idle thoughts – "gastronomical, literary, and political (though heedless of ephemeral policies)" from the preface. Welby was an interesting character, born and raised in India by parents who forbade him from speaking English until the age of six, he became a journalist, a war correspondent, and a literary critic. Most interest in Swinburne and Arthur Simmons, he was decidedly a Victorian and Edwardian living in a later time. This book, dedicated to his friend André Simon, spends much time ruminating on English cuisine, in the context of the many influences found in the restaurants and in cookbooks of the 19th century. He was politically to the right, and seemed keenly aware that the aristocratic culture he was so fond of was fading fast in the first third of the 20th century. His writing is concise and very pleasant, and there are many interesting observations throughout. Some toning to endpapers, a few light marks to a few pages and to text block edges. In publisher's red cloth, gilt-titled and decorated, with a bit of light soil, and a small water stain to the top edge of the rear board. With a small rubber stamp, "Cayless", presumed an ownership stamp, to the front paste down, and again, in slightly different form, to the title page. Overall, near very good. Lacking dust jacket. Scarce. $150.

New York: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1945. Octavo (21 x 15 cm.), 184 pages. Subtitle from the jacket.

FIRST EDITION. A classic novel of the professional chef, chronicling his education in various kitchen arts through a sequence of cooking jobs in the great (fictional) restaurants of the Continent. Of the many amusing anecdotes is "an account of a Pleistocene banquet, at which the guests ate musk-ox beef a million years old that had been found frozen in a terminal moraine above the Arctic Circle" (from the jacket). The author, a Welshman transplanted to California, was a longtime San Francisco journalist and novelist. M.F.K. Fisher provides a long jacket blurb which states, in part, "Everything Idwal Jones writes is charged with a special tantalizing flavor, a kind of exotic earthiness, and High Bonnet is to my mind the most magical of them all." Near fine, in a very good dust jacket with just a bit of wear to jacket extremities.

Inscribed on the free front endpaper in the year of publication, "For Dorothy Robinson, the unruffled and ever-pleasant, and a wonder at finding the needle in the haystack - With warm regards, Idwal Jones, 1945". $350.

Seattle: Madrona Publishers, 1980. Octavo (21.5 x 15 cm.), x, 223 pages. Illustrated. Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-220) and index.

Evident FIRST EDITION. A classic of modern food writing, on the subject of the captivating capsicum. "Smitten by a love of hot peppers, journalist Richard Schweid traveled to the capital of the U.S. hot sauce industry, New Iberia, Louisiana. This is Cajun country, and capsicum (as hot peppers are known botanically) thrive in the region's salty, oil-rich soil like nowhere else. At once an entertaining exploration of the history and folklore that surround hot peppers and a fascinating look at the industry built around the fiery crop, Schweid's book also offers a sympathetic portrait of a culture and a people in the midst of economic and social change." (the publisher). Fine in publisher's red cloth. Dust jacket price-clipped, otherwise fine. Quite scarce in the first edition, and especially in this condition. $250.

New York: Targ Editions, 1985. Quarto (29 x 20 cm.), 21 pages.

FIRST EDITION, limited to 250 copies signed by the author. A short memoir of Fisher's early California life. The twenty-fifth – and I belive final – work published by William Targ's Targ Editions. In paste paper-covered boards over tan cloth with paper spine label. Some rubbing to bottom edge of boards, otherwise fine, in original glassine. $250.00