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I recently acquired a copy of Mrs Beeton's original 1861 book - reprint via Benediction Books - a few scanning errors but I've seen worse.

It makes an interesting comparison with the bloated 1907 version, and the later 1930 version picked up for 50p in a charity shop.

The 1861 original has a clarity and simplicity missing from the 1907 version, while the 1930 one lacks any remaining personal touches.

For interest, three Autumn family lunches:

1861

Julienne Soup

Roast ribs of beef, Yorkshire pudding, French beans, potatoes, horseradish sauce

Greengage pudding, Vanilla cream

1907

Mulligatawney soup

Boiled Turbot, oyster sauce

Fricandeau of veal, French beans, rissole potatoes

Roast pheasant, salad

Apple Charlottes or rice cream

Devilled chicken livers

1930

Roast Goose, apple sauce, potatoes, cabbage

Apple tart, baked custard pudding

I could live with the first and last (just) but the 1907 is way over the top - and the rest of the week's recipes are similar.

I'm sure there is material for a detailed study in these three books, but not from me.

RayS

Thanks Ray: good old Mrs Beeton..well fed families in the Victorian era; a trailblazer, whose life was cut short - didn't she die around the age of 28? In her short 7 years she certainly set the stage for the likes of female celebrity cooks in her wake..where would Fanny Craddock, Delia , Nigella et al have been without her!