Anna Courthope Recipe Book
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[Library Title: [Recipe book] [manuscript].]
Holding Library Call No.
UPenn Ms. Codex 1039Manuscript Cookbooks Survey Database ID#
136Place of Origin
England ➔ Sussex ➔ WadhurstDate of Composition
perhaps ca. 1840-1860Description
This is likely a just-begun collection of recipes and remedies, as the volume of 56 leaves contains only 11 pages of recipes, with some additional items laid in. Recipes include sauces, desserts, stewed pigeons, and India pickle. The recipes were written by a single individual. At some later point, a second person wrote pencil notes adding directions and evaluating recipes.
The author of the recipes is presumed to be Anna Courthope (1817-1897) based on a signature in the volume and on the fact that two recipes refer to Whiligh, the Courthope family estate in Wadhurst, East Sussex, where Anna Courthope lived. Born Anna Deacon, she married George Campion Courthope of Whiligh in 1841. The couple had eight children. The notebook is watermarked 1828, but presumably Anna Courthope wrote her recipes somewhat later, perhaps just prior to or during the early years of her marriage.