Maroon calf spine with gilt banding and title. Marbled boards.

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Edinburgh: Robert Cadell, 1831. Second-hand hardcover. Please view photographs.Dalgairns, Mrs. The Practice of Cookery adapted to the business of everyday life. (4th Ed) Robert Cadell: Edinburgh 1831. owner name to title-page; handwritten recipes to re

DALGAIRNS, Mrs [1780s-1844 (Catherine Emily Callbeck)] -The Practice of Cookery, adapted to the business of everyday life. Fourth Edition.

Sporadic faint foxing; one or two faint signs of kitchen use, Overall a clean and tight copy.

Dalgairns was a British North American who left Prince Edward Island, Canada for Dundee, Scotland in the 1820s.  First published in 1829, The Practice of Cookery was an instant critical and commercial success.  In June 1829, the review in The Spectator asserted that Mrs. Dalgairns was “far more copious than [Mrs Rundell or Dr Kitchener] are, far more various, and to us more novel.”  Certainly the number of recipes is much larger than can usually be found in contemporary books and the breadth of the recipes equally uncommon.  An entire chapter is devoted to curry.  Although known for its’ Scottish recipes’, there are many more from North America, England, Europe and even Asia; a recipe for ‘China Chilo’ appears in the chapter on mutton.

The 4th edition brought the total number of copies issued to just 6000.  Despite a price of 7/- it was unlike its’ competitors, unillustrated.