Manuscript Location

New York Public Library, Schwarzman Building - Manuscripts & Archives Division

Place of Origin

England

Date of Composition

1684-ca. 1700

Description

This book of approximately 154 pages is inscribed on verso of first leaf: Mary Davies her booke 1684. However, the name "Elizabeth Cotton" appears in the back of the notebook, and eight recipes are written in the same hand as this name. At least two other hands are also present in the manuscript.

The culinary recipes primarily concern banqueting stuff (fruit preserves, little cakes, sweet biscuits, and creams). The book contains only a few recipes for savory dishes, including goose pudding (with goose blood), to bake red deer, artichoke pie, collar of beef, pancakes, and soused pig. The quality of the recipes is high. Unfortunately, the handwriting of one of the authors (probably not Mary Davies to judge from her inscription) is virtually indecipherable. A number of the recipes were copied from printed sources, including "To make Short Cakes," which was taken from The Good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchen, published circa 1594.

The book contains approximately twenty-five medical recipes. These recipes are indexed in the back of the notebook in the hand of one of the principal authors, quite possibly Mary Davies.