Le pâtissier pittoresque. Le pâtissier royal parisien. Le maître d'hôtel français. Traité de l'office. Le cuisinier parisien. L'art de la cuisine française au XIXe siècle.

Set of six early editions of Carême's works uniformly bound. With a frontis­piece portrait of the author on the first volume.

Early 20th century 3/4 red sheepskin binding, spine with five raised bands, author, title and volume number stamped in gilt, decorative paper cov­ers, monochrome endpapers and past­edowns.

This precious collection brings together all of his cookery books in contempo­rary editions. First editions were quick­ly sold out and following editions like these are also highly sought after, as they were expanded by the author – with the exception of L'Art de la cuisine française au dix-neuvième siècle: our copy is a re-sale of the first edition with a new title page followed by the two volumes written by his disciple Armand Plumerey in first edition.

◇ Le Pâtissier pittoresque [...] précédé d'un traité des cinq ordres d'architec­ture, selon Vignole..., Paris, J. Renouard, etc., London, W. Jeffs, 1842. 4th edition (Bitting, 74). [6], xv, 56 pp., 125 engraved plates. Foxing only to text pages.
◇ Le Pâtissier royal parisien, Paris, J. Re­nouard, etc., London, W. Jeffs, 1841, 2 volumes. 3rd edition (Cagle, 128; Bitting, 74 – collation of illustrations matching the Library of Congress copy). [2], xcii, 399 pp.; [2], 443 pp., 2 engraved titles, 40 folding plates (not 41 as stated on the title page). Covers preserved, some foxing. Engraved frontispiece detached, small tear to margin without affecting the text p. xxxvii, pp. 305-335 uniformly browned, trace of adhesive in the outer corner pp. 395-99, first cover of vol. II reinforced on the inner margin, part of pl. 24 detached along fold not affecting the engraving, fold of pl. 31 reinforced with adhesive, slight marginal resto­rations with adhesive on inner margins of pp. 283-88.
◇ Le Cuisinier parisien, Paris, J. Re­nouard, etc., London, W. Jeffs, 1841. 3rd edition (Cagle, 121; Bitting, 74) xvi, 408 pp., 25 folding plates. Pale stain to first four pp., adhesive restoration in the margin of pp. 17-32, small loss of paper pl. 8 not affecting the engraving, foxing along the fold of pl. 13, scattered foxing.
◇ Étienne, Traité de l'office, Paris, Chez l'auteur, 1847. 2 volumes. First edition in one volume (Bitting, 147). [8], 111-222 [=224] pp.; [2] III-40-11-19-202 [1 f. bl.] 220 pp. [1] f. (bookseller's catalog), au­thor's signature at the imprint, 7 plates. Scattered foxing in vol. I, foxing up to p. 194 (vol. II).
◇ Le Maître d'hôtel français, Paris, J. Renouard, etc., London, W. Jeffs, 1842, 2 volumes. 2nd edition (Cagle, 123; Bit­ting, 75-76). [2], xii, 352 pp, frontispiece, engraved title, 25 large folding menus, 8 folding plates. Foxing, central fold of folding menus reinforced with transpar­ent adhesive, barely noticeable adhe­sive reinforcement in the inner margin of the half-title page.
◇ L'Art de la cuisine française au dix-neu­vième siècle, J. Renouard etc., Paris [1833-1841], 3 volumes. [2] f., ccxxvii, 313 p.; [3] f., xxxi, [5] 342 pp.; [3] f., 544 pp., [1] f. [engraved title]. The text, lay­out and engraved vignettes are identical in every respect to the first edition pub­lished by the author in 1833-1835. The only differences are the title pages with Renouard's address and the engraved half-titles using the same plate, but with the publisher's address. The collation is consistent with the Library of Congress copy (Bitting, 75). Illustrated with a por­trait of the author on the frontispiece of vol. I, an engraved title for each volume, and 21 inset plates including 20 folding plates, as well as numerous vignettes in the text. Half-title page and title of vol. I browned and reinforced with transpar­ent adhesive in the margins, margin p. xvi browned, foxing to the title page of vol. II, small reinforcement with adhe­sive in the inner margin (p. 5, vol. II, title

page and p. 5, vol. III), more pronounced foxing from p. 544, vol. III. [Followed by] Plumerey, Le Principal de la cuisine de Paris…, Paris, Au Dépôt, Dentu, etc., 1843-1844, two volumes, [1] f. (half-title, bookseller's catalog), xi p., 425 pp.; [2] f., pp. [xii]-xxxv, 539 p., [1] f. (errata), an engraved portrait and a frontispiece in vol. I, 4 plates. First edition of this sequel to L'Art de la cuisine based on the notes of Carême by his disciple Plumerey (Vic­aire, 147, Bitting 75).
Among the hundreds of recipes that make up this collection, we come across Carême famous pastries made of choux, nougatine or spun sugar presented on a base and illustrated in his Pâtissier royal. In ad­dition to his famous vol-au-vent, béchamel, velouté, espagnole and allemande sauce, Carême also passion­ately defends the spelling of “magnonnaise” instead of mayonnaise: “I am even more convinced of this when I consider that it is only by combining different liquids [“magner” meaning “mixing'] that one ends up obtaining a very smooth and appetizing velouté sauce, unique in its kind” (Le Cuisinier parisien). The incredible aestheticism of his creations also comes with a whole cooking phi­losophy, even a science: his “medicinal broths” with various healing virtues reflect the concerns of his presti­gious clients – fond of flavor but also in search of therapeutic properties in the great chef's creations.
Even if no dish here bears the name of Carême, the chef named many a recipe af­ter illustrious figures: in the literary world, we find Buffon or Lamartine soups and even a Victor Hugo eel stew. Balzac paid a tribute to his talents by making his name a synonym for culinary greatness: “In the provinces there are Carêmes in petticoats, ignored geniuses who seem to make a sim­ple dish of beans worthy of the nod with which Rossini greets something perfectly successful” (Scenes from Provincial Life).
The majority of the illustrations, en­graved titles and frontispieces were personally drawn by Carême and em­bark the reader into a world of feasts and banquets, fine silverware and gold-embroidered tablecloths: two 80-centimeter folding illustrations of the Maître d'hôtel français show plans of huge tables seating 80 to 100 people, while 25 folded menus record the his­tory of the most famous dishes served at Versailles under Louis XV as well as Carême's own creations at the table of the Napoleon Bonaparte, the court of Francis Ist of Austria and at the home of English ambassador to the Austrian court Lord Steward.
Carême's own drawing illustrates his invention of the toque, an emblemat­ic element of the chef's outfit: “I had the idea of wearing my cap lined with a cardboard circle (it could be made oc­tagonal), which gives it more grace [...] My young people took it up, and some chefs in Vienna made it fashionable. As for putting it on the head, the design showed here should be sufficient”. This collection also includes Carême's mag­num opus which can be translated as “The Art of French Cuisine in the Nine­teenth Century”, a culinary encyclope­dia considered by the author to be his legacy. As he was only able to write five of the seven parts before his untimely death, the last two were completed by Plumerey based on the chef's notes. Added to this import­ant set is the Traité de l'office by Étienne, one of Carême's successors in the kitchens of the Princess of Bagration: it includes sorbets, ice creams, compotes, sweets and cara­mels, thus completing this an­thology of haute cuisine with snack hors d'oeuvres.
Beyond the simple recipe, Carême theorized, rational­ized and codified cooking enough to make it an art form: in his daring Pâtissier pittor­esque, a staggering 125 plates of confectionery and dessert montages are directly inspired by temples, ancient fountains, pavilions, rotundas, towers, castles, mills... sometimes even his pieces bear the signs of time and give an unmistakable Ro­mantic feeling. Classical, Gothic and even Egyptian influences are the subject of an abun­dantly illustrated architectural treatise bound at the end of the book. Carême's editorial fever is also the testament of his social and cultural ascent as well as his burning desire to give the culinary profession the recognition it deserves: “May this new tribute to the art of gastronomy im­prove the lot of the talented men who practice it, giving the great lords the no­ble idea of appreciating us as we should be appreciated, and not confusing us with the domestic staff!” (Le Maître d'hôtel français).
A superb collection of masterpieces of 19th century “gourmet writing” by the undisputed master of haute cuisine, to whom we owe the rise and worldwide influence of French gastronomy.