‎COLLECTIF‎
‎FRENCH ART OF THE 18th CENTURY‎

‎Les Soupers de la Cour ou L'Art de travailler toutes sortes d'alimens. 3 vols. - [ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT 18TH CENTURY FRENCH WORKS ON GASTRONOMY]‎

‎Paris, L. Cellot, 1778. 12mo (170 x 105 mm). Uniformly bound in three nice contemporary full sprinkled calf bindings with five raised bands and richly gilt spine. Edges of boards gilt. Small Capital on vol. 1 with wear and scratch to front board on vol. 3. Small worm tract affecting lower margin of first few leaves in vol. 3, not affecting text. Small paper-label pasted on to top of spines indicating the inventory number in an estate library. A very nice set. (2), VIII, XXIV, 459 pp. (2), XXX, 524 pp." (2), XXXVI, 374, (2) pp. ‎

‎A fine copy of the second edition of one of the most important 18th century French works on gastronomy. Here Menon presents more than two thousand recipes for ‘fine dining’ during the reign of Louis XV. Menon embraced a comprehensive approach to the culinary customs of his era, extending beyond mere food preparation and presentation. His works highlighted the significance of action, strategy, and demeanor, emphasizing that these aspects were equally crucial. His books served not only as guides to gastronomic practices but also as manuals for proper conduct and manners. Menon had what we would today call a holistic approach to gastronomic practices of his day that went well beyond the preparation and presentation of food. Several of his titles make clear that action, strategy and deportment were just as important. ""François Menon was the most influential and prolific French cookbook author of the eighteenth century. During his time, today's familiar categories of French cooking were emerging, and Menon was a master of them all: nouvelle cuisine (a term that each generation redefines)" haute or classical cuisine and cuisine bourgeoise. He even wrote the first French cookbook devoted specifically to a woman cook (La cuisinìere bourgeoise)... Menon first described the new cuisine in detail in the third and final volume of Nouveau Traité de la cuisine (New Treatise on Cooking, 1742). In contrast to traditional cooking, he wrote, the key to nouvelle cuisine was delicacy. Sauces were lighter but at the same time more nourishing seasonings aimed to enhance rather than mask lead ingredients... Menon not only wrote about the practicalities of nouvelle cuisine" he was also concerned with philosophy, linking his mission closely to that of the leading thinkers of the Enlightenment: to advance and disseminate knowledge that allows humankind to live in a state of nature perfected."" (Willan, The Cookbook Library, pp. 218-19). Provenance: A large Danish estate. Vicaire 591 Bitting 321 Livres en bouche, 212.‎