THACKER, John (fl.18th century)

First edition of a cookery book for use in the kitchens of northern England, by the Dean of Durham’s cook. 'Thacker's book is that very rare thing, a cookery book of the English eighteenth century that has his own recipes throughout: nothing seems to have been plagiarized or borrowed from other writers. It is also the only book of its kind to have come out of an English religious community. The Dean of Durham had a lavish grant for entertaining, and his generous hospitality meant that Thacker had to cook for all levels of society, from canons of the Cathedral with sophisticated tastes such as the gourmand Dr Jacques Sterne, to tradesmen, poor widows and those of even more modest status' (Day, Southover Press edition, 2008). Thacker 'claimed that French dishes were "invented by the English," and that "the French Names have ... been given them to excite Curiosity, and make them by that Artifice better liked"’ (quoted in Sherman and Chotkowski, Fresh from the Past: Recipes and Revelations from Moll Flanders' Kitchen, 2004). Bitting, p.458; Cagle 1019; Maclean, p.140.

Octavo (203 x 118mm). 9 woodcut illustrations in text (marginal repairs in first 4 leaves, some heavy staining, lacking final 4 leaves). Modern panelled calf (short split to upper hinge). Provenance: Cooks Books, Brighton (bookseller’s label on rear pastedown) – Albert Roux (bookplate on front pastedown).