Penn in Hand: Selected Manuscripts

Brett, Hopestill.

[Recipe book] [manuscript].

[England?], [1678-1690]

141 leaves : paper ; 170 x 107 mm. bound to 176 x 115 mm.

Recipe book containing culinary and medical recipes, plus a few diary entries near the end, two dated 1683 and 1685 refer to processing flax. Entries on the last two folios record "my oune tex Jobe the 7 and the 8 and 9" and "my Fathers texx: then shall the dust return to the earth as it wase: and the spirit shall return unto god who gave it," as well as Biblical texts associated with other relatives and friends. These pages also record the deaths of two women friends in 1690. One leaf laid into the front describes her dowry "brought to Horncroft." Recipes are mostly for cooking and are often attributed to their contributers, for example, Goody Hebhorn and Goody Fouler's pasty crusts, Mrs. Francis Moore's elder wine, etc. Medical recipes include several for consumption and a doctor's prescription for "a purge for ye Gout and Rumatism."

Ms. codex.

Title supplied by cataloger. Attribution from f. 1r "Hopestill: Brett, Her Booke: 1678."

Foliation: Paper, 142; [1-142]; modern foliation in pencil, upper right recto. Detached leaf laid in before first folio. Folios 89-132 blank.

Script: Written in a cursive script by mainly one hand, with a few recipes, including the doctor's prescription, in other hands.

Binding: Contemporary leather.

UPenn Ms. Codex 626.

Rare Book & Manuscript Library University of Pennsylvania Ms. Codex 626