Table Talk's Illustrated Cook Book, by... publishers of Table Talk Magazine, the American authority upon culinary topics and fashions of the table

Philadelphia: Joseph L. Harbison; Table Talk Publishing Co, 1906. Squarish octavo (18.5 x 17.5 cm.), [10], 15-144 pages. Illustrated throughout with one hundred forty-four half-tones. Table of contents and list of illustrations. First Edition. The second cookbook issued by the publishers of Table Talk magazine (1885-1920), a Philadelphia competitor of the Boston Cooking School Magazine and for some, the best culinary periodical of its time. Much of the content is drawn from the pages of the magazine, though not credited to any particular contributors. The magazine's first cookbook, Table Talk's Cook Book (Philadelphia 1897), was a much larger work, with over 500 pages of recipes, though not illustrated. While not amongst the earliest of photographically illustrated cookbooks (which first appeared in the late 1880s), the book makes excellent use of a variety of styles and subjects, with images of dishes, process, dining rooms, table decorations, and punch bowls and their service. Also included is a photograph of a dinner for President McKinley and his wife in the home of Mark Hanna. One wonders if this new cookbook is in good part the effort of Marion Neil, who had become Managing Editor of Table Talk not long before this was issued. The previous editor had been Sara Tyson Rorer, and the two had operated rival cooking schools: Rorer the Philadelphia Cooking School, and Neil the Philadelphia (Practical) Cooking School. A bit of spotting to a few early leaves; in publisher's full red cloth, corners bumped; gilt-titled front board. Near very good. [Bitting 605; not in Cagle].