Tallamy, Rebecca

Her book of Receipts. Written in the margins and blank spaces, of a copy of John French's 'Art of Distillation', London: R. Cotes for T. Williams. 1651. Numerous added leaves containing cookery and medical receipts by later hands. Inside the lower cover 'Book of Recepts July 1735' written by R. Tallamy. Below this is an erased inscription by a later owner, of which only the date, Oct. 14 1797, is now legible. R. Tallamy has also a dated signature 1738 on Sig. *3. On the title-page is an inscription 'Patience Tallamy her book', and above this 'William Tallamy' in a later 18th century script. The 140 added leaves contain receipts, many for cookery, by R. Tallamy, but include numerous entries by various 18th century hands, and a few of the early 19th century: one is dated 1807. This is the first edition of the 'Art of Distillation' [Wing. 2169] [see the Dictionary of National Biography, Ferguson 'Bibliotheca Chemica', s.v. French].

1735-1738

1 volume 16 [20] ll. + 199 pp. + 140 ll. 4to. 181/2 × 141/2 cm. One cover only of the original binding, back-strip and lower cover replaced. Sig. Ee is wanting, as also p. 113/4: Sig.Dd. has been bound in at the beginning to follow Sig. A4. Many margins frayed, or damaged.

Purchased 1931.

Database description transcribed from S.A.J. Moorat, Catalogue of Western Manuscripts on Medicine and Science in the Wellcome Historical Medical Library (London: Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, 1962-1973).