Eliza Smith, The Compleat Housewife; or, Accomplish’d Gentlewoman’s Companion.
Eliza Smith, The Compleat Housewife; or, Accomplish’d Gentlewoman’s Companion, 1730. Library of Congress.
Document Text |
Summary |
| The Complete Housewife or, Accomplished Gentlewoman’s companion | The Complete Housewife or Accomplished Gentlewoman’s Guide |
| Being a collection of upwards of five hundred of the most approved receipts in cookery, pastry, confectionary, preserving, pickles, cakes, creams, jellies, made wines, cordials. | A collection of nearly five hundred of the best recipes for cooking, baking, preserving, pickling, and making wine. |
| With copper plates curiously engraven for the regular disposition or placing the various dishes and courses. | With illustrations to show how to plate and serve the meals. |
| And also bills of fare for every month of the year. | Also menus for every month of the year. |
| To which is added, a collection of above two hundred family receipts of medicines; viz. drinks, syrups, salves, ointments, and various other things of sovereign and approved efficacy in most distempers, pains, aches, wounds, sores, etc. never before made public; fit either for private families, or such public-spirited gentlewomen as would be beneficent to their poor neighbors. | In addition, a collection of more than two hundred family recipes for medicine including drinks, syrups, creams, ointments, and many other things proven to help relieve illness and injury. These recipes have never been published. They are useful for the woman taking care of her family and the woman who wants to help her poor neighbors. |
| By E—–S——- | By Eliza Smith |
| The Fourth Edition corrected and improved | This is the fourth edition. It has been edited and improved. |
| London: Printed for J. Pemberton, at the Golden Buck, over against St. Dunstan’s Church in Fleet Street.
M.DCC.XXX |
Printed in London for J. Pemberton at Golden Buck, which is located next to St. Dunstan’s Church on Fleet Street.
1730 |
Eliza Smith, The Compleat Housewife; or, Accomplish’d Gentlewoman’s Companion, 1730. Library of Congress.
To explore the complete cookbook, visit: https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbc0001.2013bit39324/?st=gallery
Background
The number of printed books and documents in the colonies grew rapidly in the 1700s. Texts such as almanacs, household manuals, and advice collections became very popular. Cookbooks held a special place in the market. They typically cost less than other printed books, which meant more people could afford them. They were also useful to a wide range of social classes. Their popularity helped create a common food culture in the colonies, which in turn contributed to the formation of a colonial identity that was separate from England.
By 1800 women authors dominated cookbook authorship, which makes historical cookbooks an important example of the ways women helped shape the culture of the North American colonies.
About the Documents
This is the cover page of The Compleat Housewife; or, Accomplish’d Gentlewoman’s Companion. The book was written by Eliza Smith and originally published in London in 1727. A man named William Parks reprinted some of the recipes, including this preface, in 1742 in Williamsburg, Virginia, choosing only the ones he thought were useful to those living in the colonies. His edition was the first cookbook printed in the English colonies of North America. He chose this book due to its popularity, and records suggest that it was so popular that there were four American editions printed.
In addition to the contents advertised on this cover page, The Compleat Housewife also contains instructions for painting rooms, including how to blend the paints themselves. There are also tips for treating bites from “mad dogs,” saving soap, and removing stains from fabric.
Vocabulary
- almanac: A book of weather and astronomical information for the year.
Discussion Questions
- According to this book, what kind of skills did an accomplished housewife need in the English colonies?
- In addition to caring for the home and family, what additional responsibility does this cover page hint at?
Suggested Activities
- Ask students to investigate the book further and pick a favorite recipe or recommendation. Then have them share with the class what their chosen passage reveals about life in the 1700s.
- Pair this resource with Symbols of Accomplishment, Protesting Tea, and Spinning Wheels, Spinning Bees for a broader discussion of women’s role in the household in the English colonies in the 1700s.
- Pair this resource with Spinning Wheels, Spinning Bees, The Edenton Tea Party, and Reflections from the Home Front to consider how the role of women, as it was shaped in the English colonies, shifted during the American Revolution.
- Pair this resource with A Call to Arms, Abolition and Revolution, and Life Story: Judith Sargent Murray to consider the avenues of publication available to women during this time period.
Themes
AMERICAN CULTURE; DOMESTICITY AND FAMILY
