The physiology of taste, or, Transcendental gastronomy : illustrated by anecdotes of distinguished artists and statesmen of both continents / by Brillat Savarin ; translated from the last Paris edition, by Fayette Robinson.

  • Brillat-Savarin, 1755-1826.
Date:
1854
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The physiology of taste, or, Transcendental gastronomy : illustrated by anecdotes of distinguished artists and statesmen of both continents / by Brillat Savarin ; translated from the last Paris edition, by Fayette Robinson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    About the end of the reign of Louis XV., Dr. Coste, a native of Chatillon came to Paris ; he had a letter from Voltaire to the Duc de Choiseuil, the good Avishes of whom he gained as Boon as he had seen him. Protected by this nobleman, and by the Duchess of Gram- mont, his sister, young Coste advanced rapidly, and in a short time bccame one of the first physicians of Paris. The patronage he had received took him from a profitable career to place him at the head of the medical department of the army which Prance sent to the United States, who then \vere contending for their independence. Having fulfilled his mission, Coste returned to France, and almost unseen lived through the evil days of 1793. He was elected maire of Versailles, and even now the memory of his administration, at once mild, gentle and paternal, has been preserved. The Directors now recalled him to the charge of the medical department of the army. Bonaparte appointed him one of the three Inspectors General of the service ; the Doctor was always the friend, protector, and patron of the young men who selected that service. He was at last appointed Pliysician of the Invalides, and discharged the duties until he died. Such service the Bourbons could not neglect, and Louis XVIII. granted to Doctor Coste the cordon of Saint Michel. Doctor Coste died a few years since, leaving bebind kind recollections, and a daughter married to M. Lalot, who dis- tinguished himself in the Chamber of Deputies by his éloquent and profound arguments. One day when we had dined witli M. Favre, the Curé of St. Laurent, Doctor Coste told me of a difficulty he had, the day before, with the Count de Le Cessac, then a high officer of the ministry of war, about a certain economy which the latter proposed as a means of paying his court to Napo- léon.