I think it was last week I was pretty annoyed by a book that should have been available via Google Book search but wasn’t: The Epicure’s Almanack, written by Ralph Rylance in 1815. An academic had written about it, then published the book with a forward, which was selling originally for $50. Just typing that cheeses me off again.
Anyway, the divine Isobel Carr owns a copy and she has loaned it to me because she is awesome that way.
Danger Lurks!
I am now living in fear that the dog or the paper chewing cat will damage the book. This is not an idle worry. Here’s a picture of some of the dog’s recent work:
Bad Dog. Photo by Risky Carolyn
And here’s the cat’s handiwork, as you can see below. I believe she expects to have completely consumed this box by late 2017. She plays a deep game, this cat. Suppose she finds the book and thinks it’s tasty? (Sorry Isobel!)
Bad Cat. Photo by Risky Carolyn
And so?
Yeah, so anyway, I have this borrowed book that is at high risk of mayhem because it would cost me a fortune to replace it. Having flipped through it, I must grudgingly confess it might be extra useful because of the footnotes. It’s a great resource and Ralph Rylance has quite the amusing voice. In fact, anyone interested in absorbing the flavor of Regency London would do well to have this book at hand.
I’m off to look for a used copy…
It’s $36 at Book Depository!
(and I don’t know if I should curse you or thank you — another book to add to my bulging shelves!!!)
Actually the book sounds good enough to justify the cost. But if it appears on Google books next week, I’ll pull out my hair!
$36 is a pretty good deal! And yeah, I really do like this book. Lots of great info in it (like the fact that it wasn’t unusual for peers and dowagers who didn’t have a house in Town to live in a hotel during the Season of when they needed to be in London for Parliament, etc.).
OK, checking my budget for this. I love original sources.
Oddly enough, the cheapest copy I found was $34.00, including shipping from the UK.
If you write Regency or want London history, this is an excellent resource. I loved that the writing told a lot of stories attached to the places. Very helpful.
Sigh. Now I have to have one.
And as I live in a multi – dog and cat home I am the queen of shelving books and storing books in ways that are dog and cat proof. In the process of turning a room into a library which will be forbidden to any of the chewy/scratchy furred denizens of the household.
I feel very lucky that my giant beast has no taste for books (or shoes). Sofas on the other hand … well, he seems to have mostly outgrown the need to destroy those after gutting two.
$36? I think I can swing that. I probably shouldn’t borrow it from anyone, as I too have a book-chewing cat. One day I caught her gnawing on the corner of a meat cookbook–one can only assume it smelled of beef and other yummy things.