Below is an accumulation of the glossaries compiled for six Prospect Books facsimile reprints or transcripts of English cookery texts of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
These are:
- Robert May, The Accomplisht Cook (1661) – glossary compiled by Alan Davidson.
- Sir Kenelm Digby, The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt., Opened (1669) – glossary compiled by Peter Davidson and Jane Stevenson.
- John Evelyn, John Evelyn, Cook. (The cookery manuscript of John Evelyn, late 17th century) – glossary compiled by Tom Jaine.
- Richard Bradley, The Country Housewife and Lady’s Director (1736) – glossary compiled by Caroline Davidson.
- Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy (1747) – glossary compiled by Alan Davidson.
- William Ellis, The Country Housewife’s Family Companion (1750) – glossary compiled by Tom Jaine.
In addition, Elizabeth David’s literary executor, Jill Norman, has kindly given her permission for me to incorporate the text of Mrs David’s glossary to John Nott’s Cooks and Confectioners Dictionary (1726) which she prepared for the facsimile reprint published in 1980. Her entries carry the suffix (John Nott, 1726). With the exception of the Richard Bradley, these are all in print and available as described in the list on this site.
There are certain variations in form, and there have been certain failures of translation of older computer formats, but the document is functional and may be of some use to students of early cookery manuals. The page references embedded in the entries are to locations within the glossed text.
A few excisions have been made from the originals, either of error or of entries that have specific reference to the text concerned and no other – e.g. some biographical entries in the Bradley glossary.
If anyone has compiled a glossary which they would like to see accumulated into this document, please feel free to communicate with me. If there are points you would like to raise, or discussions to be made public, I will happily post them here for other users to comment.
Tom Jaine
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