[Sca-cooks] Noble Boke/This is the Book-- was In Search of

[johnna holloway]

Greetings from Johnnae llyn Lewis

As some of you may already know this is my field of interest, both
professionally as a librarian and bibliographer and as someone who has
been in the Society since 1973.

Actually there is another microfilm available that is readable. As I
explained in my session at CooksCon back in January, this book has been
an obession of mine for over 2 decades. I had several conversations with
UMI back in the 1980's regarding the poor quality of the master copy of
their microfilm. I offered at the time to pay a rate of 50 cents per
page for a printed copy direct from them and was told that it wouldn't
be readable. When I received advance access to EEBO in its trial version
several years ago, one of the first things I checked is how this looked
on EEBO. The quality is somewhat better but full pages still print off
as black or gray squiggles on black. As I reprted back in January, this
means that you can sit in the comfort of your own home now and download
unreadable images.

However never giving up on the subject, I kept looking and discovered
another microfilm exists from another project.
I have had a copy for the past year. I paid almost 100 dollars for the
microfilm. The scanning off print charges for printing a copy off runs
in excess of another $150-$200 depending on what the charge per page is.
(It can run upwards of a dollar a page. It also takes literally hours to
scan and print it off.) I probably have the only readable copy from this
microfilm in the country. It's not catalogued as being held by any
collection nor did the company have any records that it had ever been
previously sold to anyone in the USA.

HOWEVER

You also cannot do anything with the work without seeeking approval from
Longleat. The microfilm very clearly carries that warning on it. This is
not an instance where violating copyright is an option.

The best option at the moment is to put any projects aside and wait for
the Hieatt edited edition that will be appearing in two volumes in
either late 2003 or 2004. You might start saving up for it, as I am
guessing that it may well be expensive.

After all since it's been 500 years since the work was widely available,
what's another two or three years at this point.

Johnna Holloway   Johnnae llyn Lewis
(those wanting more information might want to read my paper from the
CooksCon 2 proceedings.)





Huette von Ahrens wrote:
>
> --- Nancy Kiel <nancy_kiel at hotmail.com> wrote:
> > I am looking for a better copy of a cookbook,
> > listed in the English Short
> > Title Catalogue as This is the boke of cokery.
> > R. Pynson, 1500. Marquis of
> > Bath.    I have photocopied a poor microfilm of
> > it (apparently it didn't
> > film well) and much of it is illegible.  Help!
> >
> >
> > Anne Sintmaartensdijk
> >
>Huette von Ahrens wrote:
>
> Here is how it should have been catalogued, as it
> has several alternative titles:
>
> 245 10  This is the boke of cokery. [microform]
> 246 2   Here begynneth a noble boke of festes
>       ryalle and cokery.
> 246 2   Boke of cokery.
> 246 2   Noble boke of festes ryalle and cokery.
> 260     [[London] :bEmprynted without temple
> barre by Rycharde Pynson,cin the yere of our
> lorde. M.D. [1500]]
>
> 300     [124] p.
> 500     Considerable print show-through,
> affecting the readability of text.
> 500     Reproduction of the original in Longleat,
> Warminster, Wilts.  (Marquess of Bath)
> 500     Available on microfiln and on the World
> Wide Web.
>
> Only two libraries on RLIN have records for this
> book, Rutgers Univ. in New Jersey and
> Northwestern Univ. in Illinois.
>
> Usually I don't list all of the cataloging here,
> but you need to understand that R. Pynson is the
> publisher, not the author, and that the Marquess
> of Bath is the owner of the original.  I also
> have a feeling that all versions of this will be
> poor from the first 500 field note.
>
> Huette
>