Manuscript Location

Vassar College, Archives and Special Collections Library

Place of Origin

United States

Date of Composition

1830s-1840s

Description

This book is inscribed "E. Wright's Recipe Book" "Columbia, 1832."  The book could have originated in the town or the county of Columbia in New York State. Alternatively, it might have originated in the town of Columbia, Pennsylvania, as the inside front cover of the notebook contains the label of Thomas Wallace Stationer, on Third Street, in Philadelphia.

The book is written in a notebook measuring 4 x 6.25 inches (L/W). The book is unpaginated. By a rough count, it contains about 80 pages with writing. Most of the recipes appear to be in the small, neat hand of the inscriber, but there are at least four other hands as well in various spaces throughout the book. The last ten pages are written from the back of the book, upside down in relation to the front. There is not apparent reason for this, as the recipes in this section are of a similar mix as the rest of the book. Most of the recipes in the book are for cakes and puddings, with a few recipes for pickles and preserves.

A clutch of about 26 pages of recipes written near the center of the book, starting with "Puff Pastry" and ending with "Jumbles," includes material closely paraphrased from Eliza Leslie's 75 Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats, first published in 1825, and Directions for Cookery, first published in 1837. Of particular note are lengthy directions for the mixing of cakes, which are copied from the later Leslie volume. All of this material is in the inscriber's  presumed hand. There is also an uncommon recipe for Jackson Cake, likely named in reference to President Andrew Jackson. A recipe for Mountain Gingerbread is dated Dec 26th 1839.