LE VIANDIER de Guillaume Tirel dit TAILLEVENT With letters and literature from Georgina E. Brereton, scholar of medieval French literature and culture

Hardcover

1892 · Paris

by Pichon, Jérôme & Georges Vicaire

Paris: SE VEND CHEZ TECHENER, 1892. Hardcover. Half brown calf, tan cloth covered boards, raised bands, with black morocco titles. Very good. 297 pages. 24 x 16.5 cm. Limited edition #67 or 350. Le Viandier is one of the earliest and most influential cookbooks from medieval France. A recipe collection, generally credited to Guillaume Tirel, also known as Taillevent, is considered one of the first "haute cuisine" cookbooks, offering a framework for the preparation and presentation of dishes brought to the table. This 1892 copy of Le Viandier represents a significant scholarly edition that differs from earlier versions in several ways. This edition was based (truncated) on a manuscript from the French Bibliotèque Nationale, one of only three manuscripts known at the time. Also, this edition includes a lengthy introduction, descriptions of the manuscripts, a detailed bibliography, copious scholarly notes, and an index. In addition, the editors published a supplemental copy of a manuscript that was found in the Vatican Library, which is bound together as one in this copy.

Handwritten letters from Georgina E. Brereton, medieval French scholar, to André Simon, bibliophile, wine connoisseur, historian and writer, seek details from a specific copy of G. Vicaire's Bibliographic Gastronomique, 1890, Simon held in his library. As Brereton was then teaching at the Royal Holloway College, we can assume that it was a well known fact that Simon had one of the best gastronomy libraries in London, and felt comfortable reaching out to a fellow scholar. Because the original Le Viander is believed to have been compiled in the late 14th century with additional manuscript copies and printed editions produced throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, there is speculation that some phrases and recipes have been both added and left out over the years. In Brereton's first letter she asks about the source of some of these additions, stating she had found additional sources herself. In the second letter, dated two days later, she thanks him for the information she requested and goes on to explain how she had found, by accident, some additional information while researching other material. Also laid in is an annotated leaf of a bibliography featuring two of the books Georgine E. Brereton had edited. Letters and leaf are all embossed with the Royal Holloway College's address.

Georgina E. Brereton was a scholar specializing in medieval French literature and culture. She is best known for her editorial work on Le Ménagier de Paris (The Goodman of Paris), a 14th-century French household manual, which she co-edited with Janet M. Ferrier. This work provides insights into medieval French domestic life, including gardening, hawking, and cooking practices.

Printed on Marais vellum paper, with marbled end papers by Pigelet, with the title-page in red and black. Pages lightly toned at edges. Outer hinges cracked but holding. Text in French. [CAGLE 419] [NOTAKER 601(first edition)] [VICAIRE 827 - mentions work underway for this edition] (Inventory #: 4515)

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