Purchase made possible by The K. Frank and Joycelyn C. Austen Acquisitions Endowment.
From dealer's description: "(MANUSCRIPT: English cookery.) ELIZTH IORDASON. IULY THE 25TH: 1734. [Possibly County Durham, England, c.1734 - c.1775.] Folio. 30.1cm x 20.5cm. Upper free endpaper is contemporary and has manuscript, but was added later, [24 ll. of tabulated index ruled in red], [62 ll. of manuscript, all but the last few leaves also ruled in red], lower free endpaper (original). Contemporary calf, boards with a double gilt fillet panel with gilt floral stamps in the corners, contemporary red morocco label in the center of the panel reading “ELIZTH IORDASON. IULY THE 25TH: 1734,” binding rubbed overall bound sound, leaves lightly browned and some chipped along outer edge, occasional spotting, paper watermarks of the Arms of Amsterdam with the GR and Crown counter mark, additional manuscript recipes pinned onto the leaves. An 18th-century manuscript recipe collection originally belonging to Elizabeth Jordason. Considering the label on the upper board and the fact that the majority of the recipes are numbered and in a single hand, it is probable that the volume was given to Elizabeth Jordason as a wedding gift. We have had such manuscript cookbooks in the past, usually from England or Germany, and their purpose was to prepare the newly-wed for her culinary and domestic responsibilities. We have been unable to precisely link this manuscript to a known Elizabeth Jordason, but the name Jordason, or Jordison, is very common in the north of England in the Durham area. This locale is further supported by the fact that one of the recipes at the end of the volume is for “Lady Darlington’s Pudding” - the ancestral home of the Earl of Darlington is Raby Castle at Staindrop in County Durham. The collection of recipes is well ordered, carefully written and ruled in red throughout. There are 240 numbered recipes in a single hand (no. 139 is skipped). Occasionally, there are two or three pages where the numerated recipes are not written; on these pages, there are usually additional recipes in a later and different hand. The recipes begin with fish and seafood. Examples include “Oyster Pye;” “To Collar an Eel;” “A Cods Head;” “To Pot Lobsters;” and “To Roast a Tail of Ling.” Next follows those for puddings: almond pudding; orange pudding; rice pudding; “Rattefia Pudding;” curd pudding; “Artichoak Pudding;” marrow pudding; “Hunting Pudding” (containing raisins, brandy cinnamon, and orange zest), and “Sheeps-head Pudding.” This is followed by mainly meat-based recipes: “To Ragoo a Rump of Beaf;” “To Collar a Pigg;” “To Do a turkey the New-way;” “A Calf Foot Pye;” “To stuff a Shoulder of Mutton;” “Veal Cutlets;” “A Calves Head Hash;” “To pot Wild Fowl;” “To Make Rabbits look like Wild Fowl;” “To Hash a Hare;” “To Dress a Shoulder of Mutton in Blood;” and to make sausages. There is a short section on soups (spelled “soop”): “A green soop without meat;” “A hare soop;” and “A white soop.” This is then followed by a series of desserts and cakes: “To make Rasberry Clear Cakes;” “To make Little Sugar Cakes;” “To make Sugar Knots;” “Almond Puff;” “A Cold Possett;” “Curd Cheese Cakes;” “Cakes for Tea;” and “Musk Cakes.” Next, is a series of recipes for preserves: “To preserve Rasberrys whole in Jelly;” “To Candy Orange chips;” “A Marmalade of Cherrys;” “To Preserve Green Grapes;” “To Dry Cherrys;” “To make White Mead;” “An Orange Marmalade;” and “To Candy Lemon Skins.” There are also directions for making pickles: “To Pickell cucumbers;” “To Pickell Oysters & Cockells;” “To Pickell Rock Samphire;” and “To Pickell Kidney Beans.” The final section is on wines: orange wines; birch wine; elder wine; gillyflower wine; “Elder Wine ye new Way;” and “Balm Wine.” Some of the non-numerated recipes, which are written in at least one different mid to late-18th century hand, include the before mentioned “Lady Darlington’s Pudding;” “A scalded Pudding;” “Gibblet Soup to eat like Turtles;” “A Goose Pye;” “Norfolk Punch;” and “Forced Eggs.” The non-culinary recipes include two for perfumes; “A Cement for broken China;” “To make Ink;” “To make Harts horn Jelly;” “For a Burn or Scald;” “For a Cough;” “For a Hoarsness;” and “A very excellent receipt recommended by the late Dr. Fothergill for delicate Constitutions.” John Fothergill (1712-1780) was an English physician, plant collector, and Quaker, whose medical works were being published from 1748-1785. An extensive and handsome manuscript cookbook."
Ordered from: Ben Kinmont D9367, 2019-11-15, Boston Book Fair, List of 500 years of Gastronomy, 2019, item 11.
