A TREATISE ON THE ART OF BREAD-MAKING. Wherein the Mealing Trade, Assize Laws, and Every Circumstance Connected with the Art, is Particularly Examined.
London: Printed for J. Wright, St. John's Square, for Vernor and Hood, Poultry, 1805. First Edition. Hardcover. Scarce first edition of this important treatise on the making of this key staple. Small octavo: xxiv, 216 pp. with 5 folding tables of bread prices. Original paper-covered boards with the printed paper spine label, uncut. Scattered light foxing. Some general shelfwear to the boards, which are a bit toned along the spine. A handsome copy. Housed in a custom chemise and slipcase. Bitting 140; Simon 584; Vicaire 323 (French edition of 1811); Cagle 662. Not in Kress or Oxford.
Detailed treatment of bread in all its aspects: natural history, agricultural, chemical, nutritional, commercial, and legal. There are numerous recipes given, many calling for the addition of oats, chestnuts, turnips, acorns, or potatoes, as well as accounts of experimentation with ingredients. The dedicatee of this work was Sir Benjamin Thomson (1753-1814), Count Rumford, the Anglo-American physicist remembered for his work on the nature of heat. He was also an inventor of note whose activities were centered on the culinary arts: he invented a double broiler, a kitchen range, and a drip coffeepot. Good. Item #80493
Price: $950.00