Recipes for Life: Seventeenth-Century Englishwomen's Household Manuals

• Author / Creator

  Kowalchuk, Kristine

• This project offers a semi-diplomatic edition of three seventeenth-century Englishwomen’s household manuals along with a Historical Introduction, Textual Introduction, Note on the Text, and Glossary. The aim of this project is multifold: to bring to light a body of unpublished manuscripts at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.; to consider the household manual as an important historical form of women’s writing (despite the fact it has not received such consideration in the past); to acknowledge the role of household manuals in furthering women’s literacy; to reveal new knowledge on the history of food and medicine in England as contained in household manuals; and to discuss the unique contribution of household manuals to critical issues of authorship and book history. Therefore, this project contributes to several fields: early modern culture and literature, women’s writing and history, and the history of science. In particular, this project focuses on the household manuals attributed to Mary Granville, Constance Hall and Lettice Pudsey. These three works are typical of what I have termed the household manual genre in that they all contain intermingled culinary recipes and medical remedies, they are all hand-written, and they all reflect social authorship (geographically and through time as the manuscripts were passed down through generations). The manuscripts were all begun in the mid- to late-seventeenth century, but were added to over subsequent decades. The Historical Introduction provides context for these household manuals, giving information on: the domestic role and expectations of the early modern housewife, primarily as outlined by Gervase Markham’s The Complete Huswife; the meaning of food and health in early modern England; early modern women’s participation in reading, writing, and manuscript culture; and the genre of the household manual. The Textual Introduction describes each manuscript in detail. The Note on the Text outlines my editorial principles. The Glossary covers culinary and medical terms.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Early modern women's writing
  • Cookery
  • Manuscripts

• Graduation date

  Fall 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3Z60CH0W

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.