1913 The Book of Household Management by Mrs Isabella Beeton / Ward Lock & Co., London / 32 Colour Plates and Nearly 700 Illustrations

Here is a wonderful antique copy of The Book of Household Management A Complete Cookery Book, by Mrs Isabella Beeton. With Sections on Household Work; Servant's Duties; Labour Saving; Laundry Work; Etiquette; Marketing; Carving and Trussing; The Art of 'Using-Up'; Table Decoration; The Home Doctor; The Nursery; The Home Lawyer etc.. Undated but would have been published in 1913 by Ward, Lock & Co., London. In the original binding with the gorgeous decorative spine. These are scarce and hard to get hold of still in the original binding. When they have survived they have often been so well used in a household that they are not usually in good condition. The contents of this enormous book (over 2,000 pages) are in good condition. With a few areas on the contents and some signs of use/age to the exterior being the main condition points to note (detailed below). With thirty-two colour plates and nearly seven hundred in monochrome. These are the absolute benchmark for food illustration. Making a wonderful reference as well as an eye-catching decorative item for the kitchen.

Isabella Beeton's comprehensive guide to cookery, with a wide variety of recipes, advice for the organization of kitchens and larders, marketing, and a calendar of food in season. She also gave advice on table decorations, how to wait a table, how to set a table, and how to carve meats and fish. Some of the recipes included vary from meat, poultry, salads, tarts, cold sweets, sandwiches, bread, jams, and icing. She played a pivotal role in shaping Victorian notions of household management and became an influential guide for generations. This is an interesting look at life in a Victorian and then an Edwardian household, and the running of it. It remains a valuable historical document, offering insights into the daily lives and cultural values of the 19th-century middle-class households.

I have been through and checked every page! Opens and closes with a number of charming antique advertisements. Inside the pages are tightly bound. They have spotting scattered through the text, and the occasional brown mark or blemish. Has some faint dark handling marks. With a few folded corners and a handful of nicked/closed tears to the page edges, including a tear to the bottom edge of one of the black and white plates. A couple of pages near the end of the book have been torn across the bottom corner. Has a couple of small notes in the margins and one black ink blot towards the edge of one page. A condition point to note: The outside of the pages have tanning and spotting and have some pencil and pen marks that are quite noticeable (see photos).

In dark green cloth covered boards quarter bound in dark red Moroccan leather with the ornate gilt decoration. The green cloth has some scuffs and some scratches, with a prominent scratch on the back board. The cloth on the front looks to have lifted on the front next to the spine at the bottom and has been re-glued, (see photos). With rubbing around the edges and to the corners to reveal boards beneath at the tips.

The dark red Moroccan leather spine has kept a lovely dark colour. Has rubbing and some chips and small areas of loss at the spine ends. With some surface cracking along the joints. The gilt and blind-stamped decoration is bright and this is an extremely eye-catching book to display. With the width and decoration of the spine it is hard to miss!

Your antique copy of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management will be wrapped with care in tissue and ribbon* and sent well packaged. I am always happy to add a gift card with a message to the parcel.

H 21.5 cm x W 16 cm x D 11 cm, 2040 pages, plus vintage adverts, 2.2 kg. I dispatch worldwide daily from the UK. (There are just a very few countries which I am unable to ship to). 

* If you would prefer for your book not to be decoratively wrapped and sent simply in the full protective packaging please add a note to the order.

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