Call Number:

Ms. Codex 2150

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

1 volume(s) (104 pages)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Sarah Powell recipe, commonplace, and math exercise book, 1817-1822, Ms. Codex 2150, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1817-1822 (inclusive)

Form:

Cookbooks and Commonplace books

Abstract:

This volume was written and compiled by Sarah Powell in Worcester, England between 1817 and 1822. It contains copied poems and verse, mathematics exercises, notes on history and events, and 25 recipes.

Sarah Powell lived in Worcester, England in the early 19th century. Little else is known about her.

Worcester, England in the 18th and 19th centuries was known as a prosperous town supported by the clothing and glove manufacturing industry. In 1748, Daniel Defoe said the following of the town, "The inhabitants [of Worcester] are generally esteemed rich, being full of business, occasioned chiefly by the Clothing trade, of which the city and county round carry on a great share, as well as for the Turky as the Home-trade."

There are references in the volume to Charles Crisp, an actor and member of the Crisp family, who were traveling performers in England. He was born in the late 18th century and died in the 1820s or 1830s. His three brothers, John, George, and William were also actors. One of the four brothers owned and managed the theater in Worcester from 1807 through at least, and probably after, 1814.

Also addressed was an election for the House of Commons, held in Worcester on June 16, 1818. The candidates included the defending member George William Coventry, Viscount Deerhurst; Thomas Henry Hastings Davies; and Sir William Duff Gordon. Deerhurst won the election and remained in the House of Commons through 1826.

Sources:

Chambers, John. A General History of Worcester, Embellished with Plates, Printed for R. & S. Prowett, Worcester, 1820, pp. 371–377.

Defoe, Daniel. A Tour through the Whole Island of Great Britain. Divided into Circuits or Journeys, Printed for S. Birt, T. Osborne, Etc., London, 1748, p. 335.

Highfill, Philip H., et al. A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, 1975, p. 46.

This volume contains copied poems and verse, mathematics exercises, notes on history and events, and 25 recipes. It is bound in quarter leather over original marbled boards. Several pages are torn out (p. 49-62) and the pages are written upside down in the latter portion of the volume (p. 78-104).

The poems and verses include "lines on the death of her Her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte" (p. 93-104), "Chit Chat" sung by Charles Crisp, and various other verses copied from The London Budget of Wit and The Monthly Mirror. Charles Crisp was an actor and one of four notable actor brothers, one of whom managed the theater in Worcester from 1807 through at least, and probably after, 1814.

The mathematics exercises span 39 pages (p.1-39), are written in copperplate script, and cover topics including division (p. 6) and proportions (p. 23).

Notes on historical events include "Mrs. Trimmer on the Destruction of Tyre" (p. 40) and notes and statistics regarding the June 16, 1818 House of Commons election in Worcester, England.

The recipes (p. 78-89, 91-92) include custards in cups (p. 79), to collar and eel (p. 82), to make egg wine (p. 84), rasperella (p. 86), veal cutlets (p. 87), a receipt for one that is sick of love (p. 91), walnut catsup (p. 92), and to dress a fowl like a woodcock (p. 92).

Several of the recipes are attributed to Mrs. Mayfield, Mrs. Gardiner, and Mrs. Baker.

In some instances, Powell recounts where she learned of or made the recipe, for example, "Mrs. B's party, Dec 20th 1821" (p. 84) and "I did this at Mrs. Baker's in Jan 7 1820" (p. 86).