SN - L'Ecole Parfaite des Officiers de Bouche, Contenant Le Vray Maistre-d'Hostel, Le Grand - 1676

Rare and important collection, which first appeared in 1662. No doubt the work the most complete on cuisine and the art of the table under Louis XIV. The author is not identified, but could be Massialot -

Each part presents in detail the knowledge needed for any domain addressed, and a very large number of recipes are recorded there (from the art of carving poultry and other meats, to that of composing an entremet from a swan reconstructed with its feathers…). A series of illustrations notably presents a large number of ornamental fruit-carving models, which seems to be a matter of performance. (Vicaire 339).

The work describes precisely the duties of the grand écuyer-tranchant, the person responsible for carving the meats, for serving the dishes and for the ceremonial organization of official meals. It sets out the rules of conduct, technical gestures and refined usages that distinguish noble service from ordinary practices -

The treatise details the different ways of carving poultry, game, fish and large cuts of meat according to codified methods that testify as much to culinary mastery as to aristocratic savoir-vivre -

SN - L'Ecole Parfaite des Officiers de Bouche, Contenant Le Vray Maistre-d'Hostel, Le Grand Ecuyer-Tranchant, Le Sommelier Royal, Le Confiturier Royal, Le Cuisinier Royal, et le Pastissier Royal - SD (1676) -
480 pages + Table -

Condition: average binding, work in full brown leather of the period, skinning, wear with loss of material, spine damaged, missing corners, fore-edge corners worn, inked over, spine with raised bands, gilded title -

Good interior condition, some stains, missing the title page and two frontispiece leaves, beautiful initial, drop caps, pretty headbands, work enriched with beautiful engravings in black in and out of text (engraved plates not complete), some pages with slight losses at the corners of certain pages, some light losses, it lacks the two leaves of the table of contents -

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