The Household Companion: Eliza Smith

Originally published over 300 years ago as The Compleat Housewife - and 100 years before the famous Mrs Beeton - Eliza Smith, drawing on her vast experience while 'constantly employed by fashionable and noble families' compiled this collection of over 600 recipes which had 'met with general approbation'. There are also remedies and cures for the 'benefit of every accomplished noblewoman' for every ailment from the bite of a mad dog to a case of pimples. This book was not only famous in Britain, but also in America where it has the distinction of being the first ever cookery book to be published there. N.B. Please exercise caution if you should decide to try any of the remedies mentioned; this is a 300 year old book and some of the recommendations and ingredients therein would definitely NOT be advisable to try.