PBA Galleries

[36], 277, [43] pp. Text in two columns. Edited and annotated by Martin Lister. Engraved frontispiece of an ancient kitchen by J Goeree. Title page in black and red. 19.2x11.5 cm (7½x4½"), limp vellum with yapped edges and silk ties, morocco spine label lettered in gilt. Second Edition.

"The Lister edition of Apicius is the first to be fully annotated and therefore the one most sought." - Bitting. The foods described in Apicius, commonly considered the first cookbook, are useful for reconstructing the dietary habits of the ancient world around the Mediterranean, but the recipes are geared for the wealthiest classes, and a few contain what were exotic ingredients at that time (e.g., flamingo). Thought to have been written in manuscript form in the late 4th-5th centuries, descriptions of herbs and spices not only show what was being used in cooking at the time, but also give the reader a picture of what was being grown and traded then. Vicaire p.31, Bitting p.13.