Recipe book of Hannah Ledgard [manuscript], 1710.

England, 1710.

1 volume ; 21 cm

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Great Britain -- England, -- production place.

272951 MS

From dealer's description: "LEDGARD, Hannah Her booke of receiptes, 1710. A compendium of 18th- and 19th-century culinary knowledge; a witness to the way in which domestic recipes were passed down through generations of women. 200mm x 160mm. c.236 written pages, often drafted on rectos and versos of the leaves, contemporary numbering of recipes ‘1-269’ with further recipes left unnumbered, the manuscript continued into the 19th century in at least two hands with many of the later recipes added on versos, over 300 recipes in total (first gathering detached). 18th-century calf (boards detached, losses to spine, rubbed). This book was originally kept by Hannah Ledgard, whose dated ownership inscription is on the opening leaf; 'Hannah Jacksons', presumably her maiden name, is written inside the upper board, indicating that she started compiling the present manuscript before marriage, perhaps under the instruction of her mother or a housekeeper. The author gathers a collection of recipes for use in an early 18th-century household: there are instructions on preparing tempting dishes ranging from orange cheesecake and Dutch wafers to white quince marmalade and ‘a very savoury pye of beef’. Beverages are not overlooked: Ledgard includes a refreshing cherry wine and a cold syllabub for warm summer days. The enduring British love affair with sugar is reflected in these recipes, as well as the normal practice of ‘nose to tail’ eating, with no part of the animal wasted in recipes for black pudding, plum broth with beef, or calf’s head pie. Cures for ailments such as coughs and colds are also here, a testament to the close affinity between the culinary and medicinal arts in early modern England; a recipe for ‘my Granmothers Black salve’ points to the way in which such domestic knowledge was passed down across the generations. From dealer's description: LEDGARD, Hannah. ‘HANNAH LEDGARD HER BOOKE OF RECEIPTES ANNO DNI 1710’. A fine manuscript culinary and medical receipt book of Hannah Ledgard (probably née Jackson). [Possibly West Riding, Yorkshire, c. 1710-40] Manuscript in ink, 4to (abound 200 x 160mm), over 200 pages of MS but more left blank, on 184 numbered ff., then back again 185-211 from the other end; for the most part written in a single hand; the sequence from the back containing receipts in other hands; in early 18th c English panelled calf, spine broken and covers detached, very worn, but apparently complete. A splendid compilation of culinary and medical knowledge, compiled by an early 18th century Englishwoman. There are two inscriptions on the endpapers, apparently by the same woman. On the pastedown is ‘Hannah Jacksons Her Book’, and on the facing free endpaper is ‘Hannah Ledgard’ (twice), followed by ‘Her Booke of Receiptes Anno Dni 1710’. The likelihood is that Jackson is her maiden name, and Ledgard her married name, acquired in about 1710. According to the Oxford Dictionary of English Family Names, Ledgard (or Lidgard, Legard etc) is predominantly known in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Jackson, of course, is found pretty much everywhere throughout Britain, then as now. However, this is a large, round and rather unpractised hand, which may be the same as the one found on the first few leaves, with a recipe ‘How to Clarrifie Shugar’ (the slightly open g in ‘Shugar’ seems the same as the one in ‘Ledgard’). After the first few leaves, the large majority of recipes seem to be in a different hand, fluent and quite educated. Ordered from Christopher Edwards, D9615, 2023-01-03, purchased at Christie's LIVE AUCTION 21034 VALUABLE BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS, December 14, 2022, Lot #48.

272951