The Italian Cook Book: the Art of Eating Well. New York: Italian Book Co., 1919.

This is the rare Italian Book Company book in English (Mussolini's biography of Jan Hus is the other in the Collection).  This cook book - typical in some ways of IBC publications, mostly imported, about home and hearth -  is much sought after, selling in the hundreds of dollars. Note, too, that this is an early date for the Società Libraria Italiana to leave out its name in Italian - usually the English name (Italian Book Company) comes right before or right after the Italian name.

Note in the page of text reproduced that the English is not so idiomatic, the writer noting that "The Italians serve the spaghetti . . . at the beginning of the meal," rather than "Italians serve spaghetti . . at the beginning of a meal." And that pasta "seems to have pleased the taste of all the peoples of the earth."

Maria Gentile

Italian Book Co.

1919

18 x 14cm; 160 p.

English