James Beard’s American Cookery.

BEARD, James; Illustrations by Earl Thollander.

Item Number: 104633

Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1972.

Early printing of “the bible of American cooking” (Time). Quarto, original cloth, illustrated. Boldly signed by the author on the front free endpaper, Good Cooking! James Beard.” Fine in a near fine dust jacket with a touch of shelfwear. Illustrations by Earl Thollander. Jacket design by Elna Rapp. Jacket illustration by Mary Purcell.

The Washington Post has hailed American Cookery as "...his chef d'oeuvre...[it] should take a place on the narrow shelf reserved for major American culinary literature." And Time has called it "[t]he bible of American cooking by 'the king of gourmets'." "The beauty of this book is that it allows you . . . to experience firsthand what made James Beard special and unique. His voice can be heard through his no-nonsense recipes and the choices he made that celebrated even simple, humble dishes for what they were: good food" (Colicchio, 2010).