For the love of Victorian Recipes

There is just something about collecting Victorian books that gives me a deep sense of satisfaction. The idea that you can go to book fairs and hunt amongst the shelves for texts that are 100, 150 or even 200 years old and pay no more than £2 actually seems like insanity.

How is it that people do not value these texts more highly. As an historian I cannot describe the joy of picking up an obscure self published biography which seeks to detail a life that was lived over 100 years ago. Admittedly the literature is not always of the finest but it is always absolutely genuine and in the weaknesses you see more of the character than you will find in any polished text about "Victorian Lives".

One of my favourite finds was "The London Mysteries" by Reynolds in 1858. That cost me exactly £2 for a book 151 years old. The binding was not in good repair but I have a friend who is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and he made the book good. This was not a re-bind but a protection of what was with appropriate materials. This work cost me £25 so it would be right to say that I have invested £27 in this excellent piece which obviously I feel is worth every penny.

From the Adams Collection of Victorian Books

For example, let's have a look at this illustration from the text. Here we have the genuine image of a London pub in 1858 or a bit earlier. As you can see from the window, this is a Dining Room and even today, if you look carefully, you will find in old Victorian pubs windows with these words engraved.

A white cloth at the table, a waiter bringing a pile of steaming dishes, note the slight grovel in his posture, and two characters at lunch after having a vibrant encounter in a Debtors Court. Through the window is a coach and the streets of London. The more you look at this image the more you feel like you are looking through a window in time.

But for me the true value is in holding this book, holding and feeling its age, reading its script and knowing that is some very profound way I am connecting not just with the author but with a set of people long dead.