A new system of domestic cookery: Formed upon principles of economy and adapted to the use of private families

by Maria Eliza Ketelby Rundell

'A New System of Domestic Cookery' by Mrs Rundell appeared first in 1806 and was frequently reprinted throughout the nineteenth century. Its full title is 'New System of Domestic Founded up Principles of Economy; and Adapted to the Use of Private Families'.The first edition of 1806 was a short collection of recipes published by John Murray. It went through dozens of editions, both legitimate and pirated, in both Britain and the United States, where the first edition was published in 1807. The frontispiece typically credited the authorship to 'A Lady'. The book gradually grew in length, with new recipes added by Mrs Rundell and later, Emma Roberts. The final edition was in 1893.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Nonfiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1806

About the author

Maria Rundell née Ketelby (1745-1828), the daughter of a barrister, lived in London and Shropshire when she was young and married Thomas Rundell, a Bath surgeon, at the age of 21; they had five children.

After her husband died in 1800 she travelled frequently on visits to friends and relations, but found time to collect and sort her large collection of receipts and remedies for her three daughters. She eventually sent the manuscript to the publisher John Murray, an old family friend, and it was published in 1806 as A New System of Domestic Cookery; a second edition was written at Swansea, where Mrs Rundell was then living with her married daughter.

Every year 5-10,000 copies were sold and the book, one of the earliest manuals of household management, became one of Murray's most valuable properties. In 1814 there was a law suit over the copyright: Mrs Rundell eventually accepted Murray's offer of 2000 guineas.

Reviews

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book quite enjoyable to read. I read a bit each day during my lunch as well as at other odd times waiting on hold and such. This isn't a novel - it's an instruction book filled with information that a middle to upper class household would need for food preparation and preservation, as well as a few tips for how to clean certain items, in the 1800s. It serves as a strong reminder of how all parts of animals were used for all meals -- many of the desserts used suet or other specific animal fats, gelatin was made for use in fruit jellies by boiling calves' feet and other similar sources. The quantities were often huge in the recipes and all the descriptions related to different levels of cooking fire. I'd be hard pressed to actually follow any of the recipes, but I enjoyed reading about them.

[Jane Austen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maria Eliza Ketelby Rundell – regarded by some historians as the first "Domestic Goddess".
https://www.janeausten.co.uk/maria-el...

[Lynzy · Rating 1 out of 5]

So glad I don’t live in 1819.

[Toast · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK not my usual fodder I admit but I'm glad I dipped into this 1816 Housewife's Bible. I'm sure I will never need to know how to pickle a tongue that will keep for years or make china chilo but this foreign language is quite beguiling. There's even a section on Sick Cookery, Cookery for the poor and various receipts and directions to servants that's how to make black ink, to take out stains and Roman cement or mortar for outside plastering to you and me. Blimey.
Toast

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a difficult book to rate. I found it hard going and had to read it a little every day for 2 weeks but I'm not into cooking at all, and from a social history point of view it was fascinating.

There are hundreds of 'receipts' along with instructions for keeping and preparing food and, at the end, notes for servants, e.g. how to clean various types of furniture. It even tells you how to make black ink. In fact, the book probably includes everything that an early 19th-century cook in a middle class family (or her mistress) would need to know.

I was amazed how much meat they ate, and how they used every last bit of an animal to make one thing or another. There seems to have been an infinite variety of ways to prepare meat, but much less information about vegetables. Presumably that was just a question of taking whatever was in season, boiling it and adding one of the many sauces or gravies. The quantities are huge too: one recipe calls for 150 oysters. I suppose that would be for a party, but all of the recipes are obviously written for a large household including family and servants.

Some of the recipes (especially the puddings, sweets and preserves) could easily be made today if you wanted to. Others include ingredients that we might have trouble finding, like calf's heads, sorrel juice, codlins and clary flowers.