[Rarebooks] FS: First Cookbook Written by an African-American, 1827
Charles Agvent
charles at charlesagvent.com
Tue Jan 31 09:23:24 EST 2023
ROBERTS, Robert. THE HOUSE SERVANT'S DIRECTORY, OR A MONITOR FOR PRIVATE
FAMILIES: COMPRISING HINTS ON THE ARRANGEMENT AND PERFORMANCE OF
SERVANTS' WORK, WITH GENERAL RULES FOR SETTING OUT TABLES AND SIDEBOARDS
IN FIRST ORDER; THE ART OF WAITING IN ALL ITS BRANCHES; AND LIKEWISE HOW
TO CONDUCT LARGE AND SMALL PARTIES WITH ORDER; WITH GENERAL DIRECTIONS
FOR PLACING ON TABLE ALL KINDS OF JOINTS, FISH, FOWL, &C. WITH FULL
INSTRUCTIONS FOR CLEANING PLATE, BRASS, STEEL, GLASS, MAHOGANY; AND
LIKEWISE ALL KINDS OF PATENT AND COMMON LAMPS: OBSERVATIONS ON SERVANTS'
BEHAVIOUR TO THEIR EMPLOYERS; AND UPWARDS OF 100 VARIOUS AND USEFUL
RECEIPTS, CHIEFLY COMPILED FOR THE USE OF HOUSE SERVANTS; AND
IDENTICALLY MADE TO SUIT THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF FAMILIES IN THE
UNITED STATES WITH FRIENDLY ADVICE TO COOKS AND HEADS OF FAMILIES; AND
COMPLETE DIRECTIONS HOW TO BURN LEHIGH COAL. Boston & New York: Munroe
and Francis; Charles S. Francis, 1827. First Edition. Duodecimo (4-3/4"
x 7-1/2") bound in contemporary, possibly for the publisher,
linen-backed marbled boards with an intact printed paper label spine;
180 pages. A rare example of the FIRST COMMERCIALLY PUBLISHED BOOK
WRITTEN BY AN AFRICAN AMERICAN IN THE UNITED STATES and THE FIRST
COOKBOOK WRITTEN BY AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN. A guide for house servants to
help them to understand the rules of keeping a prominent white
household, it includes recipes and advice to black servants on how to
properly clean plates, what to wear, what time to arise for work, how to
deal with drunk people, how to restore furniture, and how to take care
of themselves. More household-management manual than cookbook, Roberts
gives suggestions for employers on how to manage domestic help (very
unusual for the time), but he was more interested in teaching young
black men how to succeed in their work and ensure their advancement.
Roberts begins the book: "In order to get through your work in proper
time, you should make it your chief study to rise early in the morning;
for an hour before the family rises is worth more to you than two after
they are up." The author was a butler at the country estate of U.S.
senator and governor of Massachusetts, Christopher Gore, a friend of
Daniel Webster's. Owner name of Katherine Laurence dated 27 March 1827
on the front endpaper. Two leaves (pages 73-76) neatly detached and laid
in; contents complete and very clean with occasional toning. Some
fraying along the spine edge. An excellent example of a very scarce and
important title.
BLOCKSON COLLECTION, 9537 (1969 reprint); LONGONE CATALOGUE, page 2:
"Although only two other editions of Roberts's book are recorded, some
historians think that this work was seminal in producing men of singular
ability as caterers, and managers -- rather than servants -- of large
households"; Lowenstein, AMERICAN COOKERY BOOKS, 107; Weinstein, AGAINST
THE TIDE 57: "Roberts also published the only substantial work by an
abolitionist, black or white, to contain neither hint nor trace of
race"; not in WORK. (#018453) $25,000
https://www.charlesagvent.com/pages/books/018453/robert-roberts/the-house-servants-directory-or-a-monitor-for-private-families-comprising-hints-on-the
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