Martha Lloyd's Household Book: The Original Manuscript from Jane Austen's Kitchen

Description

This is the first facsimile publication of 'Martha Lloyd's Household Book', the manuscript cookbook of Jane Austen's closest friend. Martha's notebook is reproduced in a colour facsimile section with complete transcription and detailed annotation. Introductory chapters discuss its place among other household books of the eighteenth century. Martha Lloyd befriended a young Jane Austen and later lived with Jane, her sister Cassandra and their mother at the cottage in Chawton, Hampshire, where Jane wrote or revised her novels. Martha later married into the Austen family. Her collection features recipes and remedies handwritten during a period of over thirty years and includes the only surviving recipes from Mrs Austen and Captain Francis Austen, Jane's mother and brother. There are many connections between Martha's book and Jane Austen's writing, including white soup from 'Pride and Prejudice' and the author's favourites - toasted cheese and mead. The family, culinary and literary connections detailed in the introductory chapters of this work give a fascinating perspective on the time and manner in which both women lived, thanks to this extraordinary artefact passed down through the Austen family.

Julienne Gehrer is an author, journalist and food historian who lectures on Jane Austen and the long eighteenth century.

"Lloyd's handwritten book, in all its blotched and crumbling glory, is to be published in a colour facsimile for the first time, giving readers a new glimpse into Austen's home life." * The Guardian * "Now, centuries later, Austen lovers can cook the same recipes Jane enjoyed while writing her incredible works." * Southern Living * "Lloyd's household book, which she wrote over three decades, offers fascinating insight into what life was like at Chawton House." * Mental Floss * "Austen lovers can read and cook from the same recipes Jane once enjoyed. . . . The new edition contains a full facsimile original manuscript, with a deep-brown sheep parchment cover and yellowing pages covered in Martha Lloyd's loopy handwriting, as well as Gehrer's painstaking transcription of the entire contents." * Gastro Obscura * "This is a glorious book-a work of art to read and read again." * Jane Austen's Regency World * "Martha Lloyd's Household Book is one of the few items we have from Jane Austen's closest friend... Included as a natural preface... is an extensive biography of Martha Lloyd." * LitHub * "It's perhaps surprising that no one has published a scholarly version of this little book before. But we may be glad it waited for the loving eye of Ms. Gehrer, because she has done it perfectly, and produced both a new resource for those who want to know everything about Jane Austen's life and times, and a very practical introduction to hands-on Georgian cookery." * Digestible Bits & Bites, Culinary Historians of Canada * "Julienne Gehrer's comprehensive discussion of Martha Lloyd's friendship with Jane Austen, her relationship with the Austen family, and her late-life marriage to Sir Francis Austen, Jane's brother, had me mesmerized." * Jane Austen's World *