The Female Economist; or, A Plain System of Cookery: for the Use of Families, containing Eight Hundred and Fifty Valuable Receipts (Mrs. Smith)

[iii]-xxiv, 350 pp. Frontis. engraving of game lying on a table, awaiting plucking and preparing. Period 3/4 cloth & marbled boards. Third Edition. London: Mathews & Leigh, 1810.

One of the more influential early nineteenth century English cookbooks, with revised editions appearing as late as 1828. The author intended this work to be a practical guide for " Females in the middle classes of society, who superintend their own family affairs, and who wish to unite hospitality with economy." Mrs. Smith intentionally omitted discussion of the rules of carving meat from her text, since proper  treatment of this subject would have required engraved illustrations that would have greatly increased the cost of the book. Some bumps and rubbing to covers; inner joints professionally reinforced, possibly lacking half-title, early owner's name to front pastedown, else very good; scarce. 

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