About this Book Catalog Record Details. Brown cloth with gilt title to spine. With the inclusion of timings and ingredients, Such was the success of Acton's first editions of the book, it was increasingly copied by other cookery writers.Acton had been disappointed that she had not been able to add as much information into the 1855 edition about bread-making as she wanted to, but decided, despite her health, that she would take on the subject in a new work, Acton, who suffered from poor health for much of her life, died at home on 13 February 1859, at the age of 59. There is no record of when the others were written.The practice of bankrupts evading their creditors by going into exile in France was not uncommon; Nelson's mistress, £67 in 1845 equates to approximately £6,000 in 2018; £162 in 1846 equates to approximately £14,400; £189 in 1847 equates to approximately £15,850 and £83 in 1849 equates to approximately £7,650, according to calculations based on The expanded edition of the book had the full title The recipes are, respectively: "Truffles with Champagne, A La Serviette" which, Acton writes, is so expensive as to only be served by the wealthy;Acton's work was not the only one to be copied by the Beetons. The dishes she describes and the ingredients which went into them would have been familiar to Many of the dishes Acton describes belong, according to David, to the 18th century and, with increasing industrialisation and urbanisation of the 19th century, the staple foods described were already being replaced. But all of these writers owe a debt to a Victorian spinster from Tonbridge in Kent, whose Modern Cookery for Private Families was first published … She calls a spade a spade, noting that some of the coffee served on the newfangled railway lines was a 'commercial disgrace'. Modern Cookery for Private Families, Reduced to a System of Easy Practice, in a series of carefully tested receipts etc. They suggested she write something more practical. This reprint is of the expanded edition and includes all the splendid engravings of the original. Jane Grigson is tremendous, of course, and Nigella's But all of these writers owe a debt to a Victorian spinster from Tonbridge in Kent, whose Eliza Acton (1799-1859) is not quite a household name. Condition: Good.

Cookery is not always an exact science as demonstrated in this book. What makes this book great, above all, is Acton's very British sensibility. Nor is it Elizabeth David, since she mostly ignored British food (her bread and spice books are the exceptions).

David cites the example of The food historian Bob Ashley identifies that the strongest theme in There is humour in Acton's work, particularly when reporting on a recipe going wrong.Details of cooking equipment, including a copper kettle for ham or fishExamples of presentation, including Oranges filled with JellyAlthough Acton had eight siblings, one died when only a few weeks old, probably of Trotman, Halliday and Studd the three eponymous owners of the company were involved in other lines of business, and the brewery was an investment for their spare capital, which accounts for John's employment to run the business.Only five of her existing poems are dated, the first in 1822, the last in May 1826. When Acton really loves something she does not gush but puts it in brackets, as if holding her emotions in. 'Let them be very fresh; break them singly and carefully,' Acton says of the eggs for an omelette.

By Eliza Acton Newly revised and much enlarged edition published in London by Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts and Green in 1865 6.75ins by 4.5ins xlviii, 643pp plus publisher's lists. She dispenses her sly wit sparingly, like truffles. A jauntily retro orange and burgundy You only need to read a single recipe – in Acton's cool, precise prose – to see why Elizabeth David called it 'the greatest cookery book in our language'.

In 1817 Acton, with a Miss Nicolson—about whom no further information is known—opened a "Early in her life Acton spent some time in France—either in Paris or the south of the country—but it is not known when she left England; Hardy considers it likely that she travelled in 1823.Acton had been writing poetry since at least 1822, as she wrote that year on the bottom of one of her poems.At some point—Hardy considers 1835; Aylett and Ordish consider 1837—Acton sent a further set of poems to Longman for publishing.

A decade later she offered Longman a second volume. Eliza Acton expanded it ten years later, enlarging a number of sections and adding an interesting chapter on foreign and Jewish cookery. Though the book was addressed to 'families', her own household was just herself and her mother (plus servants). Check out the new look and enjoy easier access to your favorite features Eleventh Edition. So she did, applying herself to years of experiments at the stove before venturing into print. Hers was the first British cookbook in which ingredients and cooking time were systematically given as a separate section at the end of the recipe, instead of muddled in with the method. Not Mrs Beeton, given that she pinched most of her recipes from other people. What is the greatest British cookbook of all time?

'Lemon Dumplings (Light and Good)', for example. Eliza Acton (17 April 1799 – 13 February 1859) was an English food writer and poet who produced one of Britain's first cookery books aimed at the domestic reader, Modern Cookery for Private Families.The book introduced the now-universal practice of listing ingredients and giving suggested cooking times for each recipe. The quantities used in the recipes may be too large for modern families but it is easy to halve or even quarter the quantities to make recipes manageable for today's cooks. Other cookery books plagiarised include She deserves to be.