The Market Assistant, containing a brief description of every article of human food sold in the public markets of the cities of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn; including the various domestic and wild animals, poultry, game, fish, vegetables, fruits, &c.,&c. with many curious incidents and anecdotes.
New York: Hurd & Houghton, 1866; 1867.
Thick octavo, 455, 15 pages. Advertisements. Illustrated. First edition, second printing. Thomas F. De Voe was a butcher at Jefferson Market in New York's Greenwich Village, and he is depicted as such, top-hat and all, in the handsome frontispiece to the book. De Voe was working as a New York butcher at just the moment when improvements in transportation brought increasing abundance to the city's open air food markets. In her book, Kitchen Literacy, food historian Anne Vileisis calls De Voe, “no ordinary butcher. He might more aptly be described as an epicure naturalist, and it is this naturalist inclination that makes him so fascinating.” Internally clean and sound. In publisher's blind-ruled and gilt-lettered brown cloth; slight bit of dampstaining to front cloth panel. Early pencil ownership signature to title page; tissue guard at title page foxed, with a bit of foxing to title page. Overall, near fine. Rare in the marketplace.
Price: $900.00