Manuscript Location

University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Kislak Center for Special Collections - Manuscripts

Place of Origin

England

Date of Composition

after 1568

Description

This volume is in two parts. The first 9 leaves (18 pages), which appear to be in two hands, comprise a commonplace book containing selections from the Psalms and a copy of the 1568 deathbed statement of Lady Katherine. She is presumed to be Katherine Seymour, Countess of Hertford, born Lady Katherine Grey in 1540 and the sister of Lady Jane Grey, the legendary "Nine Days Queen" executed by Queen Mary in 1554. Lady Katherine ran afoul of Queen Elizabeth I after marrying without the queen's permission and bearing two sons. Elizabeth separated Katherine from her husband and sons and confined her in a series of noble households until she died, probably of consumption, at age 28,

The remainder of the volume is a recipe book. It begins with a 6-page alphabetical table of contents on unnumbered leaves 10r through 12v. Leaf 13 is blank. Recipes begin on leaf 14, which has been renumbered leaf 1, and continue in the new number sequence through leaf 27. Leaves 28 and 29 are blank.

A little more than half of the recipes are medical. The remainder are culinary, except for a few household recipes at the very end. The recipes are in a number of different hands, including possibly the hands of the commonplace book. Changes in hand appear to correlate with changes in recipe type--that is, a clutch of medical recipes will appear to be written in the same hand, followed by a clutch of culinary recipes in another. This suggests that the book may have been a collaborative effort within a family or among a circle of friends. Most of the culinary recipes concern the conceits of banqueting, particularly sweet jellies and fruit preserves. There are also recipes for small rich cakes, which may or may not have been part of banqueting stuff at the time this book was compiled, and for general cooking, including goose and veal pies and an unusual "whitepot" that is baked in a tart pan and unmolded for serving. If this book was compiled around 1568, it is one of the earliest English manuscript cookbooks extant and predates all but the first three printed English cookbooks.

The secretary hands of this manuscript are extremely difficult for a nonspecialist to read. Fortunately, Daniel Meyers has written a transcription of the recipes, which is available here.