KIND WORDS FOR THE KITCHEN, or Illustrations of Humble Life
New York: M.W. Dodd, 1848. Hardcover. Presumed to be the second American printing, preceded by an 1845 issue, with a dedication to Joanna Bethune of New York and a "Preface to the First American Edition" by John Overton Choules. 12mo: xii, 13-263 pp. Original brown cloth binding, with gilt-stamped titles and decorations and blind-stamped designs and borders. Occasional mild foxing to the contents. The boards are remarkably fresh, with some light wear to the corners and tips. Scarce, OCLC locates one holding of this 1848 printing (British Library) and only four of the 1845 issue (NYPL, The Strong, New Hampshire State Library, and Rutgers). Item #78392
"Esther Hewlett (Copley or sometimes Hewlett Copley) was from 1815 a prolific author, publishing tales for children, tracts, works of domestic economy, and sacred history and biography. Cottage Comforts (1825), one of her earliest works, reached its eighth edition by 1831 and its twenty-fourth by 1864; a household management manual addressed to the labouring classes, it included chapters on renting and furnishing a cottage, brewing and baking, keeping animals, care and education of children, and the treatment of illnesses...Catechism of Domestic Economy (1850), The Comprehensive Knitting Book (1849), and The Young Servant's Friendly Instructor (1827) were works in the same genre. Mrs Copley's genuine concern for the working classes was further evidenced in Hints on the Cholera morbus (1832), a pamphlet published during the cholera epidemic of the early 1830s; offering practical advice on how to avoid cholera and how to nurse those infected, it was reissued in 1849 under the title of Cholera Preventible. Like such women writers as Harriet Martineau and Eliza Meteyard, Mrs Copley attempted to inculcate principles of morality and domestic economy through fiction. She was the author of collections of tales for young people (both working class and middle class)...Among many works written for children, Mrs Copley produced Scripture Natural History for Youth (1828), Scripture History for Youth (1829), and Scripture Biography (1835). Her most significant work, A History of Slavery and its Abolition (1836), was also intended for children" (Oxford DNB).
Price: $350.00