?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600
(FOOD AND DRINK.) Manuscript cookbook owned by the Sargent family. 3-75, [6], [9] manuscript pages in several different hands. 12mo, original calf, quite worn and coming disbound; a few leaves loose and worn at edges, some finger-soiling. Np, 1850-67 and undated
This volume was owned and used by the extended family of artist John Singer Sargent (1856-1925). Exactly which relatives, we're not sure. The inscription on front pastedown reads "Mary Sargent from her affectionate nephew John S.," but some of the contents are dated before the artist was born, and the handwriting does not match his. A pudding recipe on page 66 is attributed to Emily Pleasants (1817-1883), an aunt of the artist, and page 53 has a recipe for "bread from Mrs. J. Sargent." Other named contributors are Aunt Parsons, Aunt Sarah, Aunt Eliza, and Aunt Jennie. Some branches of the Sargent family lived in Philadelphia, which is where these recipes seem to derive from--at least that for "Dr. Coxe's Hive Syrup," a popular Philadelphia remedy on page 44. Miss Babson's chow-chow on page [77] would also seem to be distinctively Pennsylvanian. Alas, no cheesesteak, but we would like to try the pickled mangoes and the Indian custard pudding.
