Main content

British cookbook

Notifications

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts [Contact Us]3420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6206

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

The creators of this volume are unknown.

Lady Mary Lowther (about 1785-1863), who authored a recipe in this volume, was the daughter of the 1st Earl of Lonsdale and an artist taught by artists and architects, including Peter de Wint, Joseph Farington and Sir Robert Smirke. Lady Lowther's pudding recipe was published in J.H. Walsh's The English Cookery Book in 1859.

Bakewell pudding, featured in this volume, is an accidental creation, resulting from a mid-19th century misunderstanding in the kitchen of the White Horse Inn in Bakewell, England. The Inn's mistress, Mrs. Greaves, instructed the cook to make a strawberry tart, but the cook spread the ground almond and egg paste mixture over the top of the tart instead of mixing it into the pastry dough, resulting in what became Bakewell pudding.

Sources:

"Bakewell Pudding Shop: History." Bakewell Pudding Shop, www.bakewellpuddingshop.co.uk/our-history. Accessed 22 Jan. 2024.

"Lowther Castle, Cumbria." Lady Mary Lowther (d.1863), www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5173625. Accessed 22 Jan. 2024.

Walsh, J.H. "Lady Mary Lowther's Pudding." The English Cookery Book, 1859, p. 250.

This volume contains 96 recipes, a passage about being the "mistress of a household," and a reading list and was created and compiled in England between 1861 and 1890. The creator of this volume is unknown.

There are two hands present, a primary one featured throughout the volume and a secondary hand that appears sporadically (p. 44-45, 51-53). The volume opens with a passage about being the "mistress of a household" (p. i-ii), has a reading list of what appear to be novels, dating from 1861-1862, in the middle (p. 38-44), and an index near the end (p. 59-59). There are numerous clippings with recipes pasted in throughout the volume (p. 6-7, 9, 36-37, 43, 45, and 69) and a hand-sewn pocket between the last page and the back endpaper (p. 69).

Throughout the volume, there are references to locations across England, including Manchester (pocket), Hornsey (pocket), Ramsgate (p. 15), Shrewsbury (p. 16), Suffolk (p. 17), and Gateshead (p. 43).

The recipes in this volume are largely culinary. Examples include lemon mince pies (p. 2), transparent gingerbread (p. 5), gingerbread (p. 13), Ramsgate pudding (p. 15), rissoles (p. 20), Bakewell pudding (p. 23), Mrs. Clifford's cakes (p. 23), Lady Lowther's pudding (p. 27), fever mixture (p. 46), to dress cold fish (p. 47), and rhubarb jelly (p. 62).

Sold by The Second Shelf (London, England), 2021.

Publisher
University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
Finding Aid Author
Kelin Baldridge Smallwood
Finding Aid Date
2024 January 22
Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions

Copyright restrictions may exist. For most library holdings, the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania do not hold copyright. It is the responsibility of the requester to seek permission from the holder of the copyright to reproduce material from the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts.

Collection Inventory

Request to View Materials

Materials can be requested by first logging in to Aeon. Then, click on the ADD button next to any containers you wish to request. When complete, click the Request button.

Request item to view
British cookbook, circa 1861-1890.
Volume 1

Print, Suggest