Manuscript Location

Library of Congress, Rare Book/Special Collections Reading Room (Jefferson LJ239)

Place of Origin

England ➔ Northamptonshire ➔ Finedon

Date of Composition

mostly early 1700s, continued into mid-1800s

Description

The original collectors of this recipe book ascribed the book to Lady Elizabeth Dolben (1690- or 1691-1730), based on a reference to this individual that appears on page 135 of the volume. However, the Library of Congress, after acquiring the book, determined that the book was more likely written by members of the Mulso or Dolben families of Finedon, in the county of Northhamptonshire.

The recipes in the 182-page book are in three major sections: Phisick, Preserving, and Cookery. This arrangement, with these particular headings, suggest that the bulk of the book was written no later than the first third of the eighteenth century, after which point the word "physic," meaning "medicine," was rarely used in recipe books and preserving recipes were rarely broken out as a separate section in recipe books. (It is unclear to Manuscript Cookbooks Survey why the library believes that the book could not have been begun in the 17th century, as the library title indicates, whether or not Lady Elizabeth Dolben was one of the contributors.)

The book evidently remained in use well into the nineteenth century. In addition to the three major sections, the book contains unpaginated sections of new recipes at the end, which include the dates 1806, 1850, and 1852.