The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory; In Which will Be Found a Large Collection of Original Receipts. 3rd ed.

About this book

The Lady’s Own Cookery Book, third edition (1844), presents itself as a comprehensive domestic guide compiled by Charlotte Campbell Bury, Lady Bury, and an extensive circle of acquaintances. The opening pages explain that the work gathers more than sixteen hundred “receipts” – the period’s term for recipes – arranged alphabetically under eleven heads, a structure the editor claims offers the convenience of a dictionary while avoiding the chaos of mixed topics. The preface stresses the author’s aristocratic background and her aim to serve both the “highest style” of genteel households and the more modest means of middle‑class cooks, coupling culinary instruction with a moral argument about the health of the stomach and mind.

Written in the earnest, didactic voice of a mid‑Victorian lady, the text combines plain language with the formal diction of the era, avoiding technical jargon in favor of straightforward directions. Its exhaustive index, detailed classifications of soups, sauces, meats, fish, and vegetables, and the inclusion of seasonal and health‑related advice will appeal to readers fascinated by historical gastronomy, scholars of 19th‑century domestic literature, and anyone who enjoys exploring the meticulous organization of a bygone kitchen manual.