Manuscript Location

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

Place of Origin

United States

Date of Composition

ca. 1852-1882

Description

This recipe book begins with antidotes for poisons and medical and household recipes. Culinary recipes follow, organized in separate sections for breakfast foods, cakes, puddings, miscellaneous (including recipes for terrapin, lobster, and oysters), drinks, soups, pickles, and preserves. The main sections of the text are written in a single cursive hand, with recipes added throughout in three or four additional hands. Recipes in the book for "Maryland Waffles," "Eastern Shore Muffins," "Virginia Cake," and "Maryland Pone" suggest that the book originated in the Chesapeake Bay region. Recipes for "Republican Cake," and "Jenny Lind Pudding" date the manuscript to the second half of the nineteenth century. The dates 1880 and 1882 appear near the end of the volume.

A recipe in French is written in the book in a later hand, and another recipe in French is laid in. Near the end of the volume there is a satiric poem titled "Salad," framed with pen and ink drawings of two comic figures and a person fishing. A penciled note on the inside front cover reads "Kept by General John Marshall Brown of Portland, Me." This note is purported to have been written by Portland bookseller Francis O'Brien. However, there is no evidence in the text of a connection to Brown or to a Brown family member.