Manuscript Location

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

Place of Origin

England ➔ Buckinghamshire ➔ Great Hampden

Date of Composition

1805-1825

Description

This book is in two parts. Read from the front, the book contains culinary recipes, followed by a brief table of contents. Read from the back, the book records the expenses for six girls during the years 1805 to 1813, at a school in Nocton, Lincolnshire, run by John Brackenbury and, later, his daughter Justina.

The recipes are of particular note because they are believed to have been written by Eleanor Agnes Hobart, Countess of Buckinghamshire. She was born Eleanor Eden in 1777, the first child of Lord Auckland. As a young woman she was informally engaged to William Pitt the Younger, Prime Minister to George III, until Pitt broke off the engagement, without explanation, in 1797. In 1799, she married Robert Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire (1760-1816), an English politician, and lived with him at Hampden House until his death. The couple had no children. Eleanor died in 1851. 

The book contains recipes for  egg dishes, fish dishes, meat dishes, potato dishes, sauces, souffles, cheeses, puddings, dessert creams, biscuits, and cakes. Some recipes are dated and some have attributions, including blancmange by Lady B.; fricassee chicken, omelette by Rose; cream biscuits by Lady Grantham; and fish sauce by Miss Burman.