[Sca-cooks] Saving the Apicius manuscript
Johnna Holloway
johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu
Thu Jul 20 18:40:11 PDT 2006
Came across this notice this evening-- Johnnae
Andrew Smith asks Culinary Historians to help save Marcus Apicius! Most
culinary historians know about the cookery manuscript attributed to
Marcus Apicius, the first century Roman gourmand. Containing 500
recipes, the manuscript was assembled and hand copied in the fourth
century. In the ninth century, monks at the Fulda monastery in Germany
recopied the recipes in a simple manuscript adorned by red letters. This
ninth century manuscript has amazingly survived through twelve hundred
years of wars and natural disasters and is believed to be the earliest
copy of Apicius, the only recipe collection we have from the ancient
Mediterranean.
The manuscript eventually was given to the New York Academy of Medicine.
The 1,200 year old manuscript is falling apart and needs to be rebound.
The New York Academy of Medicine approached a professional manuscript
restorer; the estimated cost of rebinding is $15,000. The Culinary Trust
of the International Association of Culinary Professionals has taken on
the task of raising the necessary funds and launching a public relations
campaign focusing on the importance of preserving our culinary heritage.
All funds collected will go directly to restoration projects; all those
who contribute will be invited to the restoration launch event, likely
in the Fall of 2006. Please send contributions to: The Culinary Trust,
304 W. Liberty Street, Suite 201, Louisville, KY, 40202.
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