Housekeeping in Old Virginia. Containing Contributions from Two Hundred and Fifty of Virginia's Noted Housewives, Distinguished for Their Skill in the Culinary Art and Other Branches of Domestic Economy. Edited by Marion Cabell Tyree.
Louisville, Ky. J.P. Morton and Company, 1879.
Thick octavo (19.5 x 13.5 cm.), [7], vi, [1], viii-xviii, [1], 20-528, [2] pages. Index; list of contributors. ~ Third printing, following the issues of 1877 (New York: G.W. Carleton) and 1878 (Richmond, Va.: J.W. Randolph), all with like pagination. Bitting indicates an issue of 1876, but none are located, and we note the preface by the author is dated "January, 1877". We have handled two states of this Morton 1879 printing: state "A" contains an additional 24 pages of advertisements, and plain salmon-colored endpapers; state "B" lacks the advertisements, and the endpapers contain printed testimonials (front) and notices of the press (rear). Both issues lack the frontispiece illustration that appeared in the 1877 and 1878 issues, depicting a smiling African-American woman at work in the kitchen. And finally, both 1879 states contain a small but important shift in the subtitle, replacing "Ladies in Virginia" with "of Virginia's Noted Housewives". The list of contributors provides their locations, primarily various cities and counties within Virginia. Marion Cabell Tyree (1826 - 1912) was the last surviving granddaughter of Founding Father and Governor of Virginia Patrick Henry (1736 - 1799) and the great granddaughter of Revolutionary War Colonel John Cabell. During the Civil War, Marion kept a small sanitarium for the wounded in Lynchburg, VA and helped establish one of more than 30 hospitals in the city. Bright, quick-minded, and entrepreneurial, she gathered family recipes from friends and relatives, giving credit to all the contributors – listing the men by their names, the women by the title of their husbands or just initials, and a former enslaved woman by her full name (though in quotation marks, "Mozis Addums"... Richmond. Possessing a great aptitude for domestic economy, Tyree not only included recipes for meals, desserts, wine, cordials, etc., but also chapters on housekeeping, housecleaning, and remedies for the sick. Her book is still considered one of the most influential cookbooks to represent the culture of the Southern United States. ~ Offsetting from newsclipping has slightly darkened two pages. Brown cloth with beveled edges; gilt-stamped decoration and title to front board and to spine. Edges and corners a bit rubbed, otherwise fine. With the ownership signature of "M.H. Keating" to preliminary blank. A lovely copy of a book normally found well-used. [Bitting page 469; Brown 4275 (citing the 1877 issue); not in Cagle].
Price: $1,000.00