OP: A Treasury of Great Recipes

Ampersand Press, 1965. Padded hardcover. Very Good Minus. First printing.

A highly popular, suave, handsome actor, Vincent Price (1911–1993) was known for his thrillers and horror films, such as Diary of a Madman, The House on Haunted Hill, and The Fly. Another generation might remember him for his narration of Michael Jackson’s Thriller video or his last role as the inventor in 1990’s Edward Scissorhands. 

Beyond acting, Price was known as a skilled painter, an accomplished cook, and a globe-trotting connoisseur of good food. Written with his second wife, Mary, A Treasury of Great Recipes—published in 1965 in a luxurious edition with padded, gold stamped faux-leather covers and printed on heavy tan paper—is a tribute to the western world’s great restaurants, including legendary and now-vanished establishments such as Fernand Point’s Le Pyramide in France, Lüchow’s in New York, and Scandia in Los Angeles. 

First published by Ampersand Press, the book was eventually distributed by Doubleday. Oddly, both of those editions bear the same copyright page, which states First Printing with no number line. We are offering here what we believe to be the true first printing, crediting only Ampersand on the title page. Our copy is in Very Good Minus condition, clean and bright inside, the binding tight. The two place marking ribbons, however, have been removed. The case shows scuffing and shelfwear, as the design is want to do.

For anyone with an interest in the development of fine dining in the 20th century, this is a valuable resource. Full-page color photographs throughout represent the state-of-the-art of the day. Also available in a reprint edition by Dover.