This receipt book is signed on the inside front cover: Mary Lewis 1776. The book contains 79 numbered pages of recipes, of which pages 1 through 50 and pages 60-61 appear to be in the inscriber’s hand. The remaining pages are in a number of other hands and include the date November 18, 1826 (pages 67 and 69). There is an index by page number that begins at the front of the book and continues in the back. Entries through page 47 are in the hand of the inscriber, the remaining entries in other hands. The index ends at page 66.
Mary Lewis Joyce’s recipes are culinary except for a handful of medical formulas. Virtually all of her recipes outline typical English dishes of the late eighteenth century, such as Blanc Manger, Almond Cheesecakes, Scotch Collops, Orange Pudding, To dress a Calves head like Turtle, Plum Cake, To Pot Pigeons, To Collar Beef, Whipt Syllabub, Orange Wine, White Fricassee, Veal Olives, White Soup, Gravy Soup, and Elder Vinegar. The recipes in the other hands are predominantly medical, with a few culinary recipes mixed in. The recipe for yeast-raised Plum Cake on page 16 calls for 10 pounds of flour, 12 pounds of currants, and 40 eggs and is to be mixed by one person while another person adds the ingredients. Yet this enormous cake is baked in a single hoop for a mere two hours.
The library possesses biographical formation on Mary Lewis Joyce.
