Lawrence City Mission Cook Book: Favorite Recipes of the Women of Greater Lawrence.
Lawrence, Massachusetts: The Boothby Press, [circa 1928].
Octavo (23 x 16 cm.), 164 pages. Cover title: City Mission Cook Book. Publication date derived from image in Walter Baker advertisement on page [107]. Includes table of contents. Advertisements interspersed. Second printing (see Brown). A generous anthology of seven hundred recipes assembled by delegate members of a community defining itself on a wide franchise. An idea of the scope can be inferred from the number–forty-eight–of recipes for pudding of one sort or another, a number, moreover, that does not include cobblers, shortcakes, or pandowdies. Several melted cheese dishes are not seen every day (Gnorchi; Montaug; Mexican Bunny), and there is sometimes an experimental impulse: Pineapple and Shrimp Salad; Fig Mousse (with sherry); Spiced Rhubarb (with vinegar and cloves). To restore calm, there is advice on mixing an Elderberry Flower Cordial. The Lawrence City Mission, originally called the Lawrence Provident Association, was created in 1859. "We are confirmed in the opinion so freely expressed at our last meeting," read the plan of organization, "that the establishment of a city mission, free from sectarian bias, for the purpose of friendly counsel, encouragement, and material aid to the poor and friendless, is a measure that promises results of a most beneficial character." Once established, with twenty-six delegates from twelve churches under the leadership of Rev. George Packard (1803-1876, originally of Wiscasset, Maine), the Mission acted as a clearinghouse for charitable initiatives of various kinds. An unusually successful civic cooperative, it also provided disaster relief and assistance to victims of tuberculosis. Reorganized, the organization continues under the name Family Services of Merrimack Valley. Several pages lightly stained or darkened; also some markings or corrections in pencil (one in ink). Bound in blue textured publisher's cloth with dark blue lettering, upper slightly soiled, lower lightly discolored. One recipe handwritten on title page verso. Very good or a bit better. [OCLC locates five copies; not in Brown].
Price: $60.00