JE SAIS CUISINER Par un groupe de cordons bleus sous la Direction de Mlles H. Delage et G. Mathiot, Professeurs d'Enseignement Menager a la Ville de Paris. Pres de 2000 Recettes, De plats exquis, De recettes simples, De conseils rationnels, De donnees d'hygiene alimentaire, D'economies facilement realisables. by Delage, Mlle H.; and Mathiot, Mlle G - [1934].

Paris: Albin Michel, [1934]., [1934].. Good. - Octavo, original pictorial boards backed with a red cloth spine, with a matching pictorial title label on the spine. The covers are rubbed and lightly stained with wear to the spine and tiny tears to the bottom of the joints. 650 pages with textual illustrations. The rear hinge is cracked. The pages are tanned and there is foxing and staining throughout. Good.

Laid in at the front is a "Pavillon Bleu Chatillon s. Seine" broadside menu for December 5, 1937. The menu is typed on a 7-5/8 inch high by 4-3/8 inch wide sheet illustrated with color lithograph titled "Camping" along the top and a color vignette lithograph of a "Cherry Rocher Grande Liqueur" bottle at bottom left. The illustrated page is printed by A. Waton. The prix-fixe "Dejeuner" menu offerings include "Le Pate Chaud Chatillonnais", "La Lotte Joinville", "Le Filet de Boeuf sauce Madere", "Le Marcassin Sauce Poivrade", etc. Folded, the menu is foxed and also darkened at the top.

Also laid in is a 5-1/2 inch high by 4-1/4 inch wide broadsheet for the "Hotel de la Cote-d'Or, Saulieu Relai Gastronomique" offering 2 recipes by Alexandre Dumaine. Dated "23 aout 1938" in ink at the bottom with an annotation penned in ink at the top of the recto. This broadsheet is also foxed and the top edge darkened.

The French food writer and home economist Ginette Mathiot (1907-1998), one of the authors, was an officer of the "Legion d'Honneur". She wrote over 30 books including "Je Sais Cuisiner" which sold over 6 million copies. Her cookbooks were easily read and aimed to appeal to young families. As an educator, she taught home economics and subsequently became "Inspectrice generale de l'enseignement menager de la Ville de Paris" and then the country's Inspector General overseeing the teaching of Home Economics.