Rare first edition of one the finest and most extensively illustrated early works on culinary carving, describing and illustrating refined techniques, the order of serving, and the handling of various foods, including poultry, hare, rabbit, pork, veal, lamb, mutton, venison, ham, lobster, fish, artichokes, and both sweet and savoury pastries. The plates illustrate a variety of carving methods and include a large folding plate depicting forks and carving knives. The work predates Joseph Moxons well-known deck of cards with illustrated carving instructions by thirteen years.
The frontispiece depicts a gentleman at table attended by a servant carving a fowl in the Italian manner, holding it aloft on a fork and carving it in mid-air for display. As noted by the anonymous author in the preface, this method was not customary in the Netherlands. Accordingly, the work addresses both this practice and the more conventional technique of carving on a platter.
Hieronymous Sweerts (1629-1696) was a printer, bookseller, and poet from Amsterdam, who was trained at the printing office of his uncle Paulus Aertsz. van Ravesteyn. He established his own press in 1664 and printed a wide variety of works, including Bibles, poetry, fables, and separate prints. The present work was published anonymously, but one WorldCat description of the present edition says that Sweerts signed the preface "H. Sw.", suggesting he might be the author of the work or at least the preface. However, in all copies we have seen, including the present, the preface is unsigned.
The vellum is soiled and somewhat stained, with a small split at the spine and at the bottom of the front board. The leaves and plates are somewhat foxed and occasionally stained. Otherwise in good condition. Bibliotheca Gastronomica 6508 (4 copies); Bitting p. 530; Ferro 81a; Horn-Arndt 114; Landwehr, Ned. Kookboek, 17.2 (this issue) & 17 (1664 issue); STCN 84289344X (4 copies); Van Tol et al., Kookboeken (1991), 13 & ill. 10; USTC 1801667 (4 copies); Vicaire, col. 870; WorldCat 993593983, 1170905165, 902095689, 504084118 (8 copies); cf. for Sweerts: Van Eeghen IV, pp. 138-140.