English Recipe Book, 18th century

Date:
18th century
Reference:
MS.8576
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Credit

English Recipe Book, 18th century. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection.

About this work

Description

Collection of medical and cookery recipes in several 18th-century hands, together with various accounts and notes and transcripts of genealogical interest. With several recipes loosely enclosed, some of which were formerly pinned in. Two of the recipes are in French.

Publication/Creation

18th century

Physical description

1 volume 1 volume: approx. 250 x 200 mm. 41 ff. (17-34 largely blank). The pages have been ruled in red, indicating the volume's original intended use as a ledger or entry book. Several leaves have been cut out, leaving only stubs. Vellum-covered boards.

Acquisition note

Purchased from David and Lynn Smith Booksellers, Kenley, Surrey, December 2007.

Biographical note

The book evidently began life as a business account book, probably in the 1760s, which was later re-purposed to record recipes. One of the loose recipes is dated 1734 but the hand seems somewhat earlier than the majority of the entries in the volume. The original owner clearly had some commercial dealings with France. The genealogical content comprises transcripts of the wills of Anne Jolliffe, widow of James Jolliffe, 18 Oct. 1772 (with a codicil dated 26 May 1773) and of William Western, of Rivenhall Place, Essex, 9 Dec. 1774 (ff. 35v-39), and transcripts of entries from registers at Knighton, Radnorshire, and Yverdun, Switzerland, relating to the baptism of Judith Cooper and Jean Michel Potterat in 1721 and 1722 respectively, (ff. 39v-40v). These transcripts are dated 1769.

There is some evidence that the volume may have belonged to William Hanbury (d.1807) of Kelmarsh Hall, Northants. He was named as executor of his grandmother Anne Jolliffe's will in the codicil mentioned above, and a template for a receipt for monies received under the terms of her will from Hanbury as executor is inscribed on the inside rear cover of the volume. The Northamptonshire connection is reinforced by a note on f. 26v : 'Spencer for Stoaks Farm in Althorp £115'. Whether the recipe content has any connection with Kelmarsh Hall is unclear.

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Accession number

  • 1562