The book obviously belongs to the Savery family, but exactly who wrote it and when is unclear. The flyleaf is inscribed “E H Savery’s Receipt Book, mostly written by her son Thomas Savery Jr.” However the rear board is inscribed “West Chester, Westchester. July 3rd 1851, this was written by W. P. S. [or possibly T. P. S.]; he being sick at the time with severe indisposition, which however as will be seen did not prevent him from being a good writer, his little sister R being present gave it as her opinion that it was done ‘miserably’. WS” Assuming that the first set of initials is, in fact, W. P. S. (as would seem to be confirmed by the second set of initials, WS), this person would seem to be William Savery, another son of E. H. Savery, who is included in a dedication written on page 59 of the book: “To Elizabeth H. Savery from her sons, Thomas Savery, John C. Savery, William Savery”. But why, then, does the inscription on the flyleaf state that the book was “mostly written” by Thomas Savery Jr.?
The phrase “his little sister R” in the rear-board inscription likely refers to Rebecca Savery. She may be the person who wrote, in pencil, under the rear-board inscription, “Vain young man”. The name “Rebecca W. Savery” has also been added in a darker ink, in a different hand, to the dedication on page 59, perhaps at a later date. It seems possible that this book was passed on to Rebecca, who then annotated it. She may have been responsible for the recipes that appear after the dedication (pages 60-61); for some of the smaller, forced-in entries, such as that for Carrrageen Flummery on page 58; and for the comments on some of the recipes, such as the remark on the bottom of page 54, under Cure for cholera, “I don’t believe it.”
Dates are marked next to random recipes. Prior to the dedication on page 59, the dates run from 1844 to 1849; one recipe following the dedication (which does not appear in the index) is marked 1853.
The 63-page book contains about 150 recipes. Recipes for cakes, cookies, desserts, puddings, tea breads, and preserves predominate, although there are also about ten recipes for savory dishes and pickles and about twenty formulas for home remedies. Some of the culinary recipes are copied from Eliza Leslie's Directions for Cookery in its Various Branches, first published in 1837, including Lemon Peel, Lemon Drops, Sally Lunn, Scotch Cake, Apple Custard, and Franklin Cake. Several other recipes are clearly based on Leslie's but not copied verbatim, such as Almond Pudding and Cocoanut Pudding.
