Culinary Ephemera from Rabelais - Fine Books on Food & Drink

Cleveland, Ohio: Privately Printed, 1905. 16mo. (15.5 x 10.5 cm.), 24 pages. Illustrated. All edges gilt. FIRST & ONLY EDITION, limited, number 363 of 400 copies hand-numbered copies. A commemorative book for the Silver Anniversary Banquet of the Civil Engineers' Club of Cleveland, held at The Colonial on March 13, 1905. The fare included Canape a la Russe, Blue… Read more about this item

Providence, R.I.: [the hotel], 1883. Bi-fold menu on silk (16 x 10.7 cm.), [2] pages. Menu for a Christmas dinner at the Narragansett Hotel in Providence, R.I. Courses include Soup, Hors D'Oueuvres, Fish, Releves, Entrees, Roasts, Cold Meats, Vegetables, Mayonnaise, Game, and Dessert. The Narragansett Hotel, "conducted by Chapin & Robinson, is one of the largest, grandest, best furnished,… Read more about this item

England: Cunard Line, 1932. Tri-fold, card-stock menu (15 x 8 cm.), [6] pages. Illustrated, and signed "R." in the print. A shipboard cocktail menu, dated "Cruise 1932", but lacking the name of the specific ship. Attractively printed in black and red duo-tone, the menu offers lists of Liqueurs, Cocktails (twenty-three choices), Aperitifs, Mixed Drinks, Beer, Cigars, Tobaccos, Cigarettes, and… Read more about this item

New York: A. J. White, 54 Warren Street, 1882. Stapled booklet (20 x 15 cm.), 32 pages. Illustrated throughout. The third of the A.J. White Shaker almanacs. These promotional booklets - advertising the "Shaker Extract of Root" - were manufactured by the Mount Lebanon, New York United Society of Believers Community, but based on the recipes of Andrew Judson… Read more about this item

Chicago, Ill: the hotel, 1904. Thirty-two menus and one related item (various sizes), with various pagination. A collection of early menus from Chicago's historic Palmer House, which until the recent Covid pandemic, was the oldest continuously operating hotel in America. It was the first hotel in the city with elevators, and the first with electric lights and telephones in… Read more about this item

Borden & Cain, 1883. Broadside menu (18.7 x 12 cm.), [1] page, affixed to a silk ribbon and with a separate panel indicating the honoree. All edges gilt. An elaborate menu for a dinner given by the Aztec Club, the second oldest American patriotic society following the Society of the Cincinnati. Founded in 1847, the Club's members were U.S.… Read more about this item

Boston: J.H. Hartley, Printer, 71 Olive Street, 1883. Two pieces. Octavo-sized booklet (18 x 12.5 cm.), 30 pages. With: a hand bill for same. Bifold (21.7 x 14 cm.), [4] pages. FIRST EDITION. An interesting collection of recipes medicinal, household, and otherwise useful, drawn from vegetable chemistry. Includes medicines, syrups, extracts, tinctures, infusions, concentrations, balms, ointments, washes, liniments, drops,… Read more about this item

[Sacramento: California State Printing Office, 1932. Oblong booklet, stapled in wrappers (15 x 24 cm.), 119 pages. Text printed vertically, while the covers are displayed horizontally. Later printing; the original was issued in 1927, and it was issued almost every year until 1935. More than eighty California seafood varieties, listed in alphabetical order, with recipes for each. Some wear… Read more about this item

[New York: the company]; Neuman & Dinglinger, Lith, 1881. Trade card (15.5 x 8.7 cm.). Recto is a chromolithograph printed in red, pale blue, and gold; verso printed in red and black. A trade card advertising the G.H. Mumm Champagne imported by Fred de Bary & Co., located at the time at 43 & 44 Warren Street in New… Read more about this item

[Concord, N.H.: Republican Press Association, 1891. Booklet, stapled in wrappers (17.5 x 11.5 cm.), 39, [1]pages. Index. Publisher's advertisements throughout and on the wrappers. Title and publication information from wrapper. FIRST & ONLY EDITION. Recipes in narrative form and unattributed They are also provided in no particular order, with Graham Bread, Creamed Oysters, and Fruit Jumbles all appearing on… Read more about this item

Osh Kosh, WI: Direct Mail Associates, Inc, 1935. Tall, stapled booklet (22.5 x 10 cm.), [16] pages. FIRST EDITION. A promotional cocktail recipe book, although it is unclear what it is promoting, as no specific products are mentioned. It was issued by the Direct Mail Association, an early innovator in the field of marketing through the mail. The piece… Read more about this item

Binghamton, N.Y.: Binghamton Oil Refining Co, 1884. Booklet, stapled in wrappers (17 x 11.5 cm.), 48 pages. Illustrated. Advertisements. Title from cover. Date from testimonials in text. FIRST EDITION. A product book, advertising a patent medicines offered by the Binghamton Oil Refining Company, with cures for various poisons and other ailments, as well as testimonials and some culinary recipes.… Read more about this item

Lakeville, Mass: [the nursery, 1905. Eight advertising circulars (size ranges from 42 x 29 to 11x17 cm.). Five of the circulars are illustrated with attractive woodcuts. Printed in dark red, lighter red, brownish purple, and black on various colored stocks. A group of circulars or handbills advertising the fruit trees and vines of O.K. Gerrish of Lakeville, Massachusetts. Gerrish… Read more about this item

[Bullfrog, Nye County, Nevada], 1905. Two broadsheet menus (26 x 13.5 cm.), [1] page, each. Illustrated. Two holiday menus, for Thanksgiving and Christmas of 1905, from the height of the Nevada Gold Rush. The Christmas menu, assembled by Robert Brogelman, Chef, included Blue Point Oysters, Mock Turtle Soup, Lobster Mayonaise, Oyster Fritters, English Plum Pudding, Malaga Grapes, Hennesy 3… Read more about this item

[Boston: Robinson Engraving Co, 1890. Menu, in painted wooden boards, bound with cord (20 x 15.2 cm.), 10 gold-printed leaves, each a die-cut circle printed versos only. An elaborate program of events for the eleventh annual meeting of the Hotel Men's Mutual Benefit Association, held in May, 1890 at Boston's great hotels, the Parker House, Hotel Vendome, and American… Read more about this item

Minneapolis, Minn: the company, 1955. Quarto-sized, booklet in wrappers, in a three-hole brad binding (29 x 22.5 cm.), 249, [4] pages. Illustrated throughout. Printed on various stocks, some illustrated with color, and two leaves at the end with color samples. A sizable trade catalogue from the Minneapolis-based bar supply company, servicing drinking establishments, restaurants, hotels, etc. Sections include direct… Read more about this item

Oneida, New York: The Burt Olney Canning Co, 1910. Booklet, stapled in wrappers ( 17.5 x 12.5 cm.), 32 pages. Illustrated. Stated "eighth edition". A product cookbook selling the "Absolutely Pure" products of the Burt Olney Canning Co., and bearing the image of "Olney's Pure Food Boy" on the rear wrapper and on the first page. Includes recipes, menus,… Read more about this item

Exeter, NH: Getchell & Taylor, 1895. Billhead (11.8 x 21.7 cm.). Printed billhead for Getchell & Taylor, "dealers in hardware, paints, oils, furnaces and ranges [...]crockery, glass and tinware, plumbing and metal work." Bill for Mrs. Frank Rollins who purchased gas range, oven, and one gallon gasoline. Some discoloration to verso, otherwise very good.

[Las Vegas, Nevada; [Newton, Iowa: the Club; Bebco Litho. Co, 1953. Miniature book, stapled, in stiff wrappers (8 x 5.3 cm.), [60] pages. Illustrated. FIRST EDITION of this promotional cocktail recipe book with calendars. Includes room for addresses and memoranda. A child's pencil scribbles to a few of the memorandum pages. in publisher's stiff blue leatherette, silver-titled and decorated.… Read more about this item

Wien, [Vienna]: Druck von Paul Gerin, Wien II, Circusgasse 13, 1900. Menu booklet (25.5 x 17 cm.), [8] pages. Printed in blue and gold, with dishes mostly in manuscript. An extensive menu for Vienna's grand Hotel Imperial. The sections (titled in German, French, and English) include Luncheon, Hors d'Oeuvres, Soupes, Fishes, Beefs, Vegetables, Entrees, Roasts, Salade, Sweetmeats, Dessert, and… Read more about this item