E[liza] Smith. THE COMPLEAT HOUSEWIFE: ACCOMPLISH'D GENTLEWOMAN'S COMPANION. BEING A COLLECTION OF UPWARDS OF SIX HUNDRED OF THE MOST APPROVED RECEIPTS...AND ALSO BILLS OF FARE FOR EVERY MONTH IN THE YEAR...WITH DIRECTIONS FOR MARKETING. London: Printed for R. Ware, S. Birt, et al., 1753. The fifteenth edition, with additions. Speckled calf with gilt fillet, gilt ruling and raised bands on spine, all edges speckled. 8vo; [16], 396, xiipp.; A-2C8 2D4 (lacking T4 and T5). With decorated initials, head- and tail-pieces, and complete with frontispiece and (6) engraved folding plates. ESTC T31011.

7 7/8 x 5 1/4 in.

The Compleat Housewife, first published in England in 1727, was extremely popular with numerous London editions following before being published in the American colonies for the first time in 1742 in Williamsburg. The book contains hundreds of recipes for dishes such as "A Fricasee of Rabbets" and cow heel pudding, directions for potting eels and swans and for pickling pigeons, as well as practical and useful recipes to cure or prevent certain maladies or help in specific situations, such as being bitten by a dog, taking off freckles, easing labor, lowering a fever, preventing cataracts, and much more.

Boards with age wear such as scuffing and scratching, bumped and rubbed corners, and edgewear, joints rubbed with cracking, spine with rubbing and creasing and a worm trail at tail, with only very faint lettering remaining, tailband slightly loose; front and rear hinges cracked with volume still extremely sturdy; endpapers and frontispiece recto with ownership signatures, and with typical staining from binder's glue impacting corner of title page, lacking front free endpaper(s), rear endpaper with small tear, frontispiece with corner loss, small hole at inner margin, and small tear; interior overall very lightly toned with light scattered foxing and occasional pencil mark, small stain or area of grime, and light edge fraying; expected offsetting and plates with heavier foxing. Overall remarkably clean and crisp, especially for its age and purpose; a very good copy of this scarce and important cookbook.