[Sca-cooks] Saving the Apicius manuscript

[Johnna Holloway]

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.