[Sca-cooks] Re: Stuart Peachey (long)

[johnna holloway]

Some of these are titles that I have
owned and used for several years.
Stuart Press is part of Historical
Management Associates, Ltd. I believe
that they began as a press to produce
material on the period of the English
Civil War. Some of the titles date
to the early to mid 1980's. The books
vary but are primarily A5 in size and
are softcover and stapled. They cover
the period 1580-1660. [They are the size
of the SCA series the Compleat Anachronist
roughly.] They vary somewhat in quality
of presentation; some are good reproductions
from a typewritten copy; others are not so
clear or easy to read. Others are reduced
copies of original cookbooks. I have always
thought that they were interesting and allowed
one to keep up with what the ECW re-enactors
were doing or publishing.

As to their being too late for the SCA, the reprints of
the actual cookery texts save me time when I
want to check something and do not want to have
to drag out my archival collection of microfilm
off-prints or deal with EEBO. Several of the books
may say 16?? but they are they the later editions
of works that were published earlier. As someone who
researches when and how recipes change through time, they
can be very valuable, even if late just as May and
Digby are valuable.  And some of these editions have
the added conveniences of indexes added.

 The compilations
are a mixed lot. The Book of Comfit Making is 20 pages
and consists of title page; introduction and comments
page; a description of comfit making then and comfit
making now -pp3-5; recipes-modern, p6; recipes from
other authors- pp.7-9; section on comfit making
reproduced from Sir High Plat--pp. 9-20. If you didn't
already have the Plat book, this would be valuable to have.
They are, it seems to me, good starting places.

Amanda Ferris of Acanthus Books carries a selection
of them.
See: http://store.yahoo.com/acanthus-books/info.html

Hope this helps.

Johnna Holloway  Johnnae llyn Lewis

Mary Denise Smith wrote:>
> Greetings List,>
> This book list is from a vendor at the Re-enactor's Fair, held last
> weekend in Oxford, England.>
> Anyone care to comment on them?>
> MD/Marged>
> Early 17th Century Food Series by Stuart Peachey---
various titles--snipped---