"THE GREATEST COOKERY BOOK IN OUR LANGUAGE"—ELIZABETH DAVID

ACTON, Eliza. Modern Cookery, in All Its Branches: Reduced to a System of Easy Practice, for the Use of Private Families. London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1849. Small thick octavo, original brown cloth rebacked. $650.

Early edition of Acton's foundational cookbook.

First published in 1845, Eliza Acton's Modern Cookery is recognized as the progenitor of the modern cookbook, with its clear directives, precise measurements, and emphasis on cooking for middle class households. It was an immediate success and quickly ran to many editions: it was not until the 1861 appearance of Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management that it was eclipsed (and Mrs. Beeton lifted many of her recipes directly from Acton's work), although it stayed in print well into the 20th century. It was "the most practical of cookery books… Logical, orderly, concise, she has all the virtues for the kitchen table, and that, after all, is the test of a cookery book" (Aylett and Ordish, First Catch Your Hare). Her rediscovery in the late 20th century was accompanied by a new appreciation of her qualities not just as a cook but also as a writer. The influential English food writer Elizabeth David has called Modern Cookery "the greatest cookery book in our language," and Delia Smith considers Acton to be no less than "the best cookery writer in the English language." With six of eight plates; without plates number two and eight. Contemporary owner signature on half title.

Expected occasional soiling to text, cloth rebacked, with boards restored.