The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book
by Toklas, Alice B
- Used
- near fine
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/Very Good+
- Seller
-
Portland, Oregon, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
The notorious drug-laden recipe was printed in the British edition but omitted from this American edition as it was deemed "too dangerous." Laid in is a signed typed letter dated 11 April 1974, from author Samuel M. Steward, a close friend of both Toklas and Gertrude Stein, written to Ronald R. Randall (who evidently sold the book to John Howell Books) regarding the provenance of the inscribed recipe and how it was obtained:
"When [this work] was first published in the United States in 1954, Harper was reluctant to include the so-called recipe for 'marijuana brownies' which had already appeared in the British edition. Noticing this omission, the following Christmas season when I went to Europe, I took along the American edition of the Cookbook and complained rather wistfully to Alice about the omission of the recipe (it was not included in the American edition until some time later). 'Leave the book with me over night,' she said, 'and I will give it to you tomorrow.' When she did, the next day, I noted with delight (and some consternation at the length of the recipe, which I had forgotten) that she had copied out the entire recipe on the back fly-leaves of the book, in her miniscule handwriting which had not then yet enlarged itself because of her failing eyesight. This is possibly the most famous recipe of the twentieth century, yet curiously enough, it was sent to Alice by Brian Gysen [sic], a friend".
The inclusion of the recipe was a last-minute addition. With a deadline looming mere months away and space to fill, Toklas decided to ask those in her social circle to contribute their own recipes including Gysin's. The recipe was further solidified in popular culture by the 1968 film I Love You Alice B. Toklas where Peter Sellers' character is seduced by a hippie and her hash brownies.
The recipe, which Toklas states "anyone could whip up on a rainy day", is considered to bring about "euphoria and brilliant storms of laughter; ecstatic reveries and extensions of one's personality on several simultaneous planes are to be complacently expected".
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Details
- Bookseller
- Burnside Rare Books, ABAA (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 140945183
- Title
- The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book
- Author
- Toklas, Alice B
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good+
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First American Edition
- Publisher
- Harper & Brothers
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1954
Terms of Sale
Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
About Burnside Rare Books, ABAA
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Inscribed
- When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Good+
- A term used to denote a condition a slight grade better than Good.
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...