The English Housewife

By Gervase Markham and Michael R. Best

Book Overview

Markham reveals the "pretty and curious secrets" of preparing everything from simple foods to such elaborate meals as a "humble feast" - an undertaking which entails preparing "no less than two and thirty dishes, which is as much as can stand on one table." He instructs the housewife on brewing beer and caring for wine, growing flax and hemp for thread, and spinning and dyeing. As a housewife was also responsible for the health and "soundness of body" of her family, he includes advice on the prevention of everything from the plague to baldness and bad breath. No other source from this period provides the same richness of information in such a readable style. Michael Best's introduction and his abundant notes make The English Housewife readily accessible to the contemporary reader.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0773505822
• ISBN13: 9780773505827
• Release Date: October 1986
• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 2.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.5" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

A delightful compendium for scholars and the curious!

A truly splendid find, this well-edited edition of Gervase Markham's manual provides vivid insight into household management in the seventeenth century. Topics range from cookery and brewing to home remedies. Excellent introduction and notes. Enjoyable contemporary illustrations.

Wonderful resource for historians and reenactors

As an historical reenactor I find this book to be very useful. It has lots of interesting recipes and other useful information. The best part is that this was written in the period, so you get a much better perspective than a book of redactions.