Apician Morsels; or, Tales of the Table, Kitchen, and Larder: Containing a New and Improved Code of Eatics; Select Epicurean Precepts; Nutritive Maxims, Reflections, Anecdotes, &c. Illustrating the Veritable Science of the Mouth which Includes the Art of Never Breakfasting at Home, and Always Dining Abroad
New York: J. & J. Harper, 1829. Very Good. Item #6006
New York: J. & J. Harper, 1829. First American Edition. Octavo; 212pp + 8pp of publisher's prospectuses. Two engraved humorous frontispieces—the Roman Senate contemplating a turbot, and Mr. Eatingtown being obsequious—which are repeated as illustrations later in the text. Original paper boards with cloth spine and printed spine label. Untrimmed textblock. [Waldo 100; Lowenstein 115]
Paper on boards shows evidence of insect nibbling, general discoloration. Cloth spine, originally pink, now faded, but pink is detectable on back panel and under endpapers. Front joint and hinge cracked but still attached by cloth at spine crown and foot; rear joint and hinge solid with only slight cracking to top 1 1/2" of joint; now in mylar. Textblock foxed throughout. Engravings crisply printed; previous owner penciled the outline for a balloon caption to come from Mr. Eatingtown at p. 96, but never jotted in Mr. Eatingtown's words.
Research has not identified the legal name of our pseudonymous, Latinizing author, the Second Dick of Hummelberg. But our reading allows us to declare that his wit, which is genuine, lies somewhere on a spectrum between Thackeray and Monty Python. Anyone who writes a chapter on the origins of the toothpick, or how to "procure Town Invitations," would probably be a jolly dinner companion.
Price: $250.00