The table below lists the bibliography of original source material for much of the material in the Feudal Gourmet pamphlets, and books that are on our shelves now. Bibliographies appear in the pamphlets themselves, as well. Where newer editions were found in the preparation of the list, the new edition is listed. Scan the list, or Sort using the Region column, or use the Search box to find a keyword.
| Region | Source | MCG Comments, or from others (cited) |
|---|---|---|
| General | A Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Cookbooks, Volume 1 and 2. Duke Cariadoc, Duchess Diana Alene, Editors. Societa Illuminata, Cambridge MA, 1991. ISBN none | A wonderful collection of photocopies of out-of-print sources: A Baghdad cookery book of 1226, Two Fifteenth Century Cookery books, Hugh Platt’s Delights for Ladies, The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Opened, The Forme of Cury, A selection from an old Icelandic miscellany and several others. |
| England | A Fifteenth Century Cookry Boke. John L. Anderson, compiler, 92 pages. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1962. ISBN none | |
| England | A Noble Boke off Cookery ffor a Prynce Houssolde, Edited by Mrs. Alexander Napier. Robina Napier, editor. 136 pages. Stock, London, 1882. ISBN 127870633X | English, originally written in 1467. Dishes similar in style to Forme of Cury. Includes an introduction, glossary, list of dishes and some period feast menus. |
| England | A Proper Newe Booke of Cokerye. Catherine Frere, editor. W. Heffner & Sons Ltd., Cambridge, 1913. ISBN 095042613X | Written before 1575. Includes a long introduction, glossary, a list of recipes and some menus. Especially helpful are the copious notes which follow individual recipes, defining terms, providing info about ingredients, etc. |
| General | ACTA Volume #21: Medieval Food and Drink (Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies). Mary-Jo Arn, Editor. 154 pages. Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 1994. ISBN 1438438567 | |
| SW Asia & N. Africa | Ain-i-Akbari of 1590 by Abul Fazl Allami. H. Blochmann, Translator. 3 volumes. Atlantic, 2021. ISBN 8126928549 | A sycophantic history of the regime of Akbar, a 16th c. Moghul emperor, including a section of recipes and discussion of what foods are available at the market when & at what price. Wonderful source for development of Indian persona. |
| Herbals | Complete Herbal. Nicholas Culpepper, author. 430 pages. Facsimile Edition, W. Foulsham & Co., London, 2020. ISBN 572002033 | Reprint of 17th century herbal; illustrated text |
| Germany | Daz Buoch von Guter Spise. c. 1345-54. Alia Atlas, Translator. 32 pages. ISBN none | Brief bibliography, and brief translation notes. 96 recipes |
| Italy | De honesta voluptate; the first dated cookery book: Venice, L. de Aguila [i.e. Aquila] of 1475. Platina. English translation edition. Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, 1967. ISBN none | Has images of original text. |
| France | Early French Cookery: Sources, History, Original Recipes and Modern Adaptations. D. Eleanor Scully, Terence Scully. 392 pages. Bilingual, University of Michigan Press, 2002. ISBN 472088777 | |
| England | Forme of Cury, a Roll of Ancient English Cookery Compiled about AD 1390 (Society of Antiquaries, 1780. Or Prospect Books facsimile of 1791 reprint.) Multiple Contributors. 188 pages. Creative Media Partners, LLC, 2018. ISBN 1385857978 | 196 recipes. Collection of recipes written down by scribes c. 1390-1399 for Richard II of England. A text considered a basis for all medieval culinary literature. Has good recipes, with a wide variety of ingredients. Fairly informative intro, with discussion of ingredients found therein. List of recipes. Glossary cross-referenced with index. Some period listings of provisions for feasts, and their costs. (There are a number of publishers of this work, which is in the public domain.) |
| Herbals | Gerards Herbal: The History of Plants. Rh Value Publishing, 303 pages. Facsimile Edition. Crescent, 1985. ISBN 517464705 | |
| General | Great Cooks and Their Recipes: From Taillevent to Escoffier. Anne Willan. 199 pages. 1st Edition. Elm Tree Books, 1977. ISBN 241895871 | Has original texts |
| Herbals | Herbs for the Medieval Household. Margaret B. Freeman. 57 pages. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1943. ISBN 870990675 | Illustrated text and translated 15th century herbal. |
| France | Le Menagier de Paris: A Critical Edition. Georgine Brereton, Janet Ferrier, Editors, 374 pages. Bilingual, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1981. ISBN 198157487 | Text with medieval recipes in Old French. Late 14th century. |
| France | Le Viandier De Taillevent: 14th Century Cookery, Based on the Vatican Library Manuscript of Guillaume Tirel (alias Tallievent). James Prescott, Translator. 2nd Edition, Alfarhaugr Pub Society, 1989, ISBN out of print | Out of print. Look for a friend who owns it and buy this book from them. |
| England | Martha Washington’s Booke of Cookery and Booke of Sweetmeats, circa 1675, Karen Hess, Transcriber, 518 pages. Columbia University Press, 1996. ISBN 231049315 | Original recipes from Elizabethan and Jacobean England. Historical notes, definitions, etymologies, and copious annotations. An extensive bibliography. Booke of Sweetmeats also includes medicinal recipes. “Actually, the manuscript was compiled by an unknown person of a privileged English family around 1675, and was subsequently brought to this country by unknown means, whereupon it somehow fell into Martha Washington’s hands.” –On Adapting Historical Recipes, Steven Schmidt, 2019 |
| Scotland | Mrs. McLintock’s Receipts for Cookery and Pastry Work, Iseabail MacLeod, Editor. Macmillan Publishing, 1986. ISBN 80345190 | This is a facsimile of a 1736 work, it also happens to be the first cookbook published in Scotland. If you have a Scottish persona this may be one of your favorites. The date is late but most of the ingredients and practices fall well within SCA period. No working versions although once you make the necessary conversions between Scottish units and ours many of the recipes can be used directly. |
| England | Stere hit well: Stir It Well: Medieval Recipes and Remedies from Samuel Pepys’s Library. Gerald Hodgett, Editor, 95 pages. Cornmarket Reprints, 1972. ISBN 071911487X | Medieval recipes reproduced with translations. Late 15th century. |
| England | Take a Thousand Eggs or More: A translation of medieval recipes. Cindy Renfrow. Publisher: C. Renfrow. Available from the SCA Stock Clerk, 1991. ISBN 096285980X | This is a collection of recipes from Harleian MSS. 279 & 4016, Ashmole MS. 1439, Laud MS. 553, and Douce MS. 55. Volume 1 includes original recipes, literal translations, and modern working versions. Volume 2 is only original recipes, and literal translations. Modern Versions fairly true to source. Volume 2 also includes sample period menus, a phrase glossary, index, and an article on how to reconstruct recipes. Recipes are grouped by type, e.g. In the pork section of the meat chapter, there are three recipes for Pygge y-farced, taken from multiple sources. |
| England | The Accomplisht Cook or the Art & Mystery of Cookery, by Robert May, 1685. Alan Davidson, Marcus Bell, editors. 488 pages. Prospect Books, 1994. ISBN 907325548 | Facsimile of the 1660 edition |
| Spain | The Book of Sent Sovi: Medieval recipes from Catalonia (Textos B). Robin M. Vogelsang, Editor & Translator. Joan Santanach, Contributor. 200 pages. Barcino-Tamesis, 2008. ISBN 1855661640 | The Book of Sent Soví, composed around the middle of the fourteenth century, is the oldest surviving culinary text in Catalan. |
| England | The Complete Cook and A Queen’s Delight by W.M. Queen Henrietta Maria, Author. Facsimile. 249 pages. Prospect Books, 1984. ISBN 907325181 | This is a facsimile copy of the 1671 reprint of a text from 1655. Since this is a facsimile, it’s a little hard to read, but it’s worth it. Includes good solid food recipes, and information on the art of preserving, conserving, and candying. Also section on perfumes and distilling of beverages and aromatic and medicinal waters. |
| England | The English Housewife, written by Gervase Markham, in London 1630. Michael Best, Editor. 321 pages. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1986. ISBN 0773505822 | Great late period source, full of information on many aspects of middle class English life including many wonderful recipes in the cookery section. |
| England | The Good Housewife’s Jewel, 1596. Thomas Dawson. 160 pages. Southover Press, 1996. ISBN 1870962125 | First published in 1596. One of the earliest cookery books for the growing middle classes in Elizabethan England, contemporary with Shakespeare’s Much Ado and Merry Wives. Many of the recipes are cookable today. Introduction by Maggie Black. (Amazon) |
| France | The Good Wife’s Guide: Le Menagier de Paris: a medieval household book. Gina L. Greco, Christine M. Rose, Translators. 384 pages. English, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY. 2009. ISBN 801474744 | |
| France | The Goodman of Paris (Le Menagier De paris). Eileen Power, Editor. Folio Society, 1993, ISBN none | |
| Herbals | The Illustrated Herbal. Wilfred Blunt, Sandra Raphael. 191 pages. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1979. ISBN 0906459028 | Text and color reproductions of herbals from 512 – 1780 AD. |
| France | The Most Excellent Book of Cookery (Livre fort excellent de cuysine) of 1555. Ken Albala, Timothy J. Tomasik, Translators. 192 pages., Bilingual, Prospect Books, 2014. ISBN 190301896X | About 70 pages of original French with an English translation on facing pages. |
| SW Asia & N. Africa | The Ni’matnama Manuscript of the Sultans of Mandu: The Sultan’s Book of Delights (Routledge Studies in South Asia). Norah M. Titley. 544 pages. Routledge, 2012. ISBN 415650461 | This book has original Texts!!! An amazing recipe called Fried Cream included. |
| England | The Queen-like Closet: Or, Rich Cabinet of 1670. Hannah Wooley, author. 240 pages. Creative Media Partners, 2022. ISBN 1015653022 | |
| France | The Vivendier: A Fifteenth Century French Cookery Manuscript. Author Anonymous. Terence Scully, Translator. 129 pages. Prospect Books, 1998. ISBN 907325815 | |
| England | Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books. Harleian 279 (c. 1420), Harleian 4016 (c. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole 1439, Laud 553, and Douce 55. Thomas Austin, Editor. 206 pages. Oxford University Press, 1964. ISBN 1016155816 | Includes menus from some major feasts, and a glossary |
| Herbals | Herbarium: Natural Remedies from a Medieval Manuscript. Adalberto Pazzini, Emma Pirani, editors. 57 pages. Rizzoli International, New York. 1980. ISBN 847803058 | Color illustrated 14th – 15th century herbal. |
| Herbals | Sturtevant’s Notes on Edible Plants. Edward Lewis, U.P. Hedrick, editors. 700 pages. Bibliobazaar, 2009. ISBN 1113527315 | Absolutely fabulous dictionary of plants, including extensive histories, and records from literature of how and when they were used. Indexed by Latin names and common names. This was a major resource on preparing the 1st edition of the Feudal Gourmet pamphlet “A Culinary Reference Manual,” especially for the glossary and the section on Western Hemisphere and modern foods. |
| England | Antiquitates Culinariae, or curious tracts relating to the culinary affairs of the Old English. Reverend Richard Warner, Editor. 196 pages. Prospect Books, London. 1981. ISBN 9780907325155 | Contains 1) Forme of Cury, c. 1390 2) Ancient Cookery, c. 1381 3) updated MS from the late 14th/early 15th century 4) 8 ancient recipes to preserve fruits, c. 1631 5) A description of the Feast of the Inthronization of the Archbishop of York, in the 6th year of Edward IV 6) A description of the Inthronization of the Archbishop Warham in 1504. In addition to the actual manuscripts, the good reverend gifts us with MANY pages of preliminary discourse, which is very opinionated, but fun to read. In terms of the veracity of his opinions, we have no conclusion. The sections on the Inthronizations is interesting, it includes descriptions of what was served to whom and where they were all seated and who was doing what duty, etc, etc. |
| Germany | Daz buch von guter spise (The Book of Good Food). Melitta Weiss Adamson, translator. Medium Aevum Quotidianum/Int.Ges.z.Erforschg.. ISBN 3901094121 | This is a professional translation from the original German, with great info about the original manuscript. |