OP: Books and My Food

Rohde & Haskins, New York, 1904. Hardcover. Good Minus. First printing.

Elisabeth Luther Cary (1867–1936), a Brooklynite, first studied art then dedicated her early career to literary translation and writing biographies of artists and poets, eventually becoming the full-time art critic for The New York Times. 

With this 1904 book, Cary combines her literary interests with the culinary arts, saying in the preface, “It is impossible to read English novels without realizing how important a part food plays in the mental as in the physical life of the Englishman.” So pairing quotes from, primarily, British poets and novelists with the dishes they inspire, Cary sets forth an original recipe for every day of the year.

January 1st’s fruit cake derives from Jane Austen’s Emma: “The wedding-cake, which had been a great distress to him, was all eaten up. His own stomach could bear nothing rich, and he could never believe other people to be different than himself.” June 30th’s roast beef is inspired by Thackeray: “There is such a beautiful piece of cold beef in the larder; do somebody ask for a little slice of it.” So on and so forth—no wonder a good read so easily elicits a good appetite.

Our first printing copy is in Good Minus condition only with some splitting at the hinge and wear to the case. Every recipe is accompanied by marginalia which identifies the dish, as the recipes aren’t titled. Some staining from high acid paper laid in (and now long gone) and handwritten corrections to the index.