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Pseudo-Wecker
- The old lady revis(it)ed
Anna
Wecker is the first known female author of a printed cookbook, Ein köstlich
new Kochbuch, published in Amberg, Germany in 1597. The publisher/printer
was Forster, who also published editions under the same title in 1598, 1600 and
1607. In 1609 the book was published by Ludwig König in Basel, Switzerland,
still under the same title. In 1620, however, König changed the title to New
köstlich und nutzliches Kochbuch. Another fact that seems to have gone
unnoticed is that the new title introduced a complete revision of Wecker’s
original. The 1620 edition has a big amount of new recipes and a new and more
detailed organization of the material. Where were these recipes taken from? As
far as I can see, a lot of them are identical with recipes in New Kunstreich
und Nützliches Kochbuch by Johann Deckhardt, published in Leipzig in 1611.
If the 1620 edition of Wecker is the first revised one, it seems that we may
conclude that Decker is the real author of the most widespread editions of
Wecker’s book, published in Basel by König in 1652, 1667 and 1679.
Some
misconceptions about Le Cuisinier François in German
In
some German articles about cookbooks I have found several references to the book
called Der Französische Koch, and the original is normally attributed to La
Varenne, whose Le cuisinier Francais was published in 1651. The German book is
however a translation of another French author, Nicolas de Bonnefons.
Here follows my bibliographical data:
1665
1. Der Frantzösische Baum- und Staude-Gärtner. 84 pp.
2.
Der Frantzösische Küchengartner, welcher unterweiset, Wie die Küchen-Kräuter
und andern rarn Gewächsen auffzubringen und zu bewahren seyn. 84 pp.
3.
Der Frantzösische Confitirer, welcher handelt von der Manier, die Früchte in
ihrer natürlichen Art zu erhalten. 94 pp.
4.
Der Frantzösische Becker. 192
pp.
No printer given. Place only in no. 1 as Hamburg. All books translated by Georg Greflinger. Size: 130 x 80. No. 4 has a new title, more or less as a new chapter, on page 25, saying: Der Frantzösische Koch. This takes the rest of the book. As far as I can see no. 1, 2 and 3 are from Le jardinier francois, while 4 is from Les delices de la campagne, but rearranged a little. These texts come back as appendices to the works of Wecker and Elzholz.
1667
Parisische
Küchenmeister, das ist: Jetziger Zeit verleckerte französische Art und Manier,
allerhand Speisenden köstlichen Pancketen und Haushaltungen zu kochen und
zuzurichten.
In:
Neu, köstlich und nutzliches Kochbuch / Beschrieben Durch Fraw Anna Weckerin.
Basel
: Koenig. Size: 160 x
90
459
pp Wecker and 161 pp Bonnefons. The last [8] ff give a combined index for the
two books.
1679
New
edition, identical with 1667.
1682
Der
Französische Koch/Neben seinem Condieter/ Und dem Becker.
In:
Joan. Sig. Elsholtii Diæteticon: Das ist Newes Tisch-Buch. Cölln an der Spree:
Georg Schultzen. [6]
ff + 466 pp + [5] ff.
Koch,
Condieter and Becker pp. 347-466.
1690
Johann
Sigism. Elsholzii…Artzney-Garten- Und Tisch-Buch, Oder Fortsetzung des
Gartenbaws…: In VI Bücher verfasset…Wobei der Frantzösische Koch, Becker
und Confitirer.
I have not seen this edition, but it is listed in the Halle library catalogue.
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Last update 3 SEPT 2000. Copyright © Henry Notaker 2000