The gentleman's companion

Description: Very good. 2 v.; 24 cm. 8vo-8"-9" Tall. Volume 1 of a two volume... Very good. 2 v.; 24 cm. 8vo-8"-9" Tall. Volume 1 of a two volume set. Full red cloth bindings, rubbed and spotted, with damp staining along lower edges. Cover has cloth chips from bottom edges. No missing pages. Pages are free of marks, notes highlighting. Pages exhibit a crisp quality without any folds, dog ears, tears. 220pp. Binding is square and tight. Vol. 1. Being an exotic cookery book or, Around the world with knife, fork and spoon--v.2. Being an exotic drinking book or, Around the world with jigger, beaker and flask.

Description: Good. book is tight-text unmarked Vol. 1. Being an exotic... Good. book is tight-text unmarked Vol. 1. Being an exotic cookery book or, Around the world with knife, fork and spoon--

Description: Acceptable. 2 Volume set. case is taped together. Edges are worn. Acceptable. 2 Volume set. case is taped together. Edges are worn.

Description: Good. No Jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. (USA) Owner's bookplate... Good. No Jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. (USA) Owner's bookplate to back of frotn cover, there is a two digit number written in pen to the corner of the front cover on both volumes, no markings to pages, spine panels slightly darkened, a few tiny spots to covers, overall Good used copies; no Dj as issued; includes the slipcase which is worn and split. Two volume set, 8vo, red cloth, Volume I is entitled "Being an exotic Cookery Book or, Around the World with Knife, Fork and Spoon"; xxi, 220pp, index of receipts. Volume II is entitled: "Being an Exotic Drinking Book or, Around the World with Jigger, Beaker and Flask"; xxi, 217pp, index of drinks. This work was first published in 1939 by Derrydale Press in a limited edition, priced at the then princely sum of $15. Many of the recipes in the first edition were removed from this later edition because the called-for ingredients were simply unavailable in the United States at the time and these deletions were replaced by an equal number of more workable recipes. It is difficut to know what to think of Baker. His humour is of the type where he has no qualms about presenting himself on the frontispiece laying in a hammock wearing a sailor's cap stirring a large stew pot while his (presumably longsuffering) grass-skirted wife and daughter fan him with palm fronds. One has to remember that this was first written in the 1930s, but still....His drink book is probably of most interest to those passionate about exotic mixed drinks. Baker recounts that he and his friends took up a ship load of booze in Gibraltar in 1931 and mixed, drank and rated every conceivable cocktail from Suez through Hong Kong to Honolulu. There is a recipe for the "immortal" Hong Kong ROSY DAWN exotic cocktail. (There is always a bit of hyperbole in his expression) I prefer the volume on food where recipes are mixed up with a lot of anecdotal advice. He advises against plunging lobsters into boiling water to cook them (It toughens the meat; instead he insists on live lobsters boiled from a start in cold sea water). This advice is sound enough (see Henri Charpentier or Roy Andries de Groot on this subject), but then Baker adds "It is not cruel (to boil lobsters starting in cold water). Lobsters, crawfish, crabs CAN NOT FEEL" (emphasis his). This statement, so put, goes against all biological principle and would tend to put his culinary advice at risk except that there is good support for this method of lobster cooking going as far back as the 1829 Meg Dods cookbook. What Baker is saying is that the warming water stupifies the live lobster and that this method, one presumes, is less painful than being plunged head-first into a pot of briskly boiling water. His recipe for FISHES DIPPED IN SIX PERFUMES which he tasted in Canton calls for cooking the fish in hot butter (and calls for butter in the sauce) which is extremely odd for Cantonese cooking. In any case there is much of interest and much to wonder about in this eccentric work. (3.2 JM FO 74/5.

Description: Good. Very Clean Copy-Over 500, 000 Internet Orders Filled. Good. Very Clean Copy-Over 500, 000 Internet Orders Filled.

Description: As New with no dust jacket. Limited Edition of 2500 copies;... As New with no dust jacket. Limited Edition of 2500 copies; Gold-tooled blue leather with color plates on front boards, all edges gilt.

Description: Numbered 496 in pen of 1250 copies. "including a company of hand... Numbered 496 in pen of 1250 copies. "including a company of hand-picked receipts, each one beloved & notable in its place, collected faithfully on three voyages & a quarter million miles around the world, & other journeys not forgetting: Certain valuable words to the wise, gleaned from divers chefs in many & strange places; & the home formulae for construction of such intriguing exotics as hell-fire bitters, Key West old lime sour, herb vinegars; to say nothing of various strange and delicious sauces & bastings for fish, flesh, fowl & the wilder games." xix, 10 chapters. appendix. index of recipes. 220 pages. Page foredges and bottom edges uncut and some pages unopened. 8vo 9 1/2" x 6 1/2". Two types of red cloth (faux leather on spine) stamped in gilt on spine. Tiny wear at corners. Tightly bound. Clean. Scarce. near Fine condition.

Description: Very Good. No DJ. Signed and dated by author on first free end... Very Good. No DJ. Signed and dated by author on first free end paper. End papers are foxed. Pages are clean, no marking from previous owners, text has no markings, binding is square and tight. Light wear to cloth at spine ends and corners. Text block is foxed. Spines are faded. Slipcase is intact but soiled.

Description: Collectible-Good/No Dust Wrapper. Each volume is inscribed by... Collectible-Good/No Dust Wrapper. Each volume is inscribed by the author to George M......on June 29, 1946 in Miami, Florida (G521)