The English House-Wife – Markham – 1653 | Early Cookbook | A Way to get Wealth

The English House-Wife by Gervase Markham was an early English house-keeping manual, written and intended for women caring for homes in 17^th-century England. This book offers direction on cooking, banquet preparation, making perfumes and soaps, wine and malt making, clothes making, and even at-home remedies for good health. This book is from a larger work entitled A Way to get Wealth which explores various aspects of English living: husbandry and hunting, veterinary needs, gardening, horse breeding, and cooking and cleaning tips for the English housewife, which is the case with this book.

While this is only one portion of the larger A Way to Get Wealth, this 1653 edition is still an early published work on women’s life in 17^th-century England.

Bibliographic Details

• Title: [A Way to Get Wealth]… The English hous-wife, : containing the inward and outward vertues which ought to be in a compleat woman
• Author(s): Gervase Markham
• Publisher: London, Printed by W. Wilson, for E. Brewster, and George Sawbridge
• Edition: Fifth Edition, 1653
• Format: (8vo), single volume
• Binding: Full leather
• Size:  7.5 x 5.75 in (19 x 15 cm)
• Collation: [10], 68, 61-188pp – complete pagination
  • Text continuous and complete despite paging errors
    • P.68 misnumbered as 50, and pagination resets to 61 the following page.
• Contents Include:
  • Rules of Housewifery and Stewardship
  • Instructions for Food Preservation and Brewing
  • Herbal Remedies and First-Aid Methods
  • Expectations of Moral Conduct

Condition:

Good. Bound in full leather

Why Collect This?

• Scarce early domestic manual
• a cornerstone in English household literature
• complete segment from Markham’s A Way to Get Wealth
• Notable for collectors focused on women’s roles or early cookery

Item Number: # 29153