first edition
1903 · Louisville, Ky
by Frazer, Mary Harris
Louisville, Ky: Press of the Bradley & Gilbert Company, 1903. Octavo (23.5 x 16 cm.), 365 pages. “Order of Index” is actually a table of contents. ~ Evident FIRST EDITION. An ambitious, literate, and attractive cookbook – self-consciously presented as a kitchen reference – whose range of nearly two thousand recipes defies fair summation. Suggestive only, then: Kentucky Burgoo, Black-Eyed Pea Soup, Spinach Soup, Baked Blue Fish, Lobster Quenelles, Fried Roe, Spindled Oysters, Jellied Daube Beef, Liver with Chestnuts, Boudins, Broiled Partridge, Apple Bread, Krimneys, Crumpets, Sweet Potato Buns, Virginia Ash Cake, Fried Squash, Pumpkin Sweetmeat, Turnip Greens, Stuffed Cymblings, Stewed Endive, Raddish Salad, Celery Walnut Salad, Cranberry Shortcake, Huckleberry Pie, Orange Fritters, Banana Pudding, Transparent Pudding, Almondines, Pecan Cake, Champagne Frappe, Syllabub, Pralines, Candied Watermelon Rind. ~ Little is known of Mary Harris Frazer (1849-1912) apart from what she says of herself, in a statement so refreshingly bold that it deserves quotation: “There have been many cook books published in America,” she writes in her preface, “but fully aware of this fact and of their excellence, the author of this volume yet claims for her work an entirely unique value. Receipts are found herein which have been collected for generations, including Creole and French receipts known only to the wealthy planter families of the far South, whose trained chefs seldom liked to reveal the secrets of their delicious creations. Having spent her girlhood as a resident of Louisiana, the author early conceived the idea of collecting formulas for all the delicacies of the table served in the homes of her relatives and friends. In later years, coming further North, all that was best in Virginia and Kentucky cookery she also obtained, and it is not claiming more than the truth to state that a more comprehensive cook book has never been issued in the South.” From this it is clear that Kentucky Receipt Book was a very long time in gestation, and that its maker was not self-effacing. From newspaper notices as far away as San Francisco it can be learned that her address was 210 East High Street in Lexington, whence copies could be sent upon payment by post. (Although popular writing about Louisville claims the work as part of the city’s literary heritage, there is in fact nothing in the book’s contents to suggest a culinary connection there.) ~ Owner’s signature (“Margaret S. Haywood”) on preliminary page. Front free endpaper excised; otherwise better than very good, in publisher’s gilt-lettered claret-colored cloth, slightly soiled and bumped, and with one scratch to the front panel. [OCLC locates sixteen copies; Brown 1122; not in Cagle]. (Inventory #: 5667)