Mastering the Art of French Cooking [Ninth Printing]

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1965. Stated Ninth Printing, April 1965. Patterned fleur-de-lis boards w/turquoise stars, black and white cover and spine titles on crisp, bright orange fields, light shelf wear. Original first edition cover titles with Simone Beck listed above Julia Child. Pages very good; no writing. Charming pictorial bookplate inside cover: "Ex Libris, 'Peggy de Broux, Pont Angeles Dec. '99.'" Plates depicts a perched cat upon stack of books bending head to peer over edge at pages. Bright turquoise endpapers. Orange top edge; some sunning. Bind fine; hinges intact. Original wrapper, some edge wear, chip, sunning, coffee ring; clipped, protected in new clear sleeve. Serves purpose of preservation of book. Scarce very good original single volume edition in near good wrapper. "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" is for both seasoned cooks and beginners who love good food & long to reproduce at home the savory delights of the classic cuisine, from the historic Gallic masterpieces to the seemingly artless perfection of a dish of spring-green peas. This beautiful book, with over 100 instructive illustrations, is revolutionary in its approach because: It leads the cook infallibly from the buying and handling of raw ingredients, through each essential step of a recipe, to the final creation of a delicate confection. It breaks down the classic cuisine into a logical sequence of themes and variations rather than presenting an endless and diffuse catalogue of recipes; the focus is on key recipes that form the backbone of French cookery and lend themselves to an infinite number of elaborations bound to increase anyone's culinary repertoire. A note about authors at last page. 684 pages plus index. Insured post.. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Fair. Illus. by Coryn, Sidonie. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. Book.