Technical Services

A Declaration in which is Perticulerly Shewed …an Honorable Howse England, 1620

I think of this manuscript as a Martha Stewart Living for the Elizabethan age. The opening page of this piece tells us that this is a guide to maintaining in bounty, but with economy, a household of 50 persons, plus visitors, and a certain number of poor people who are to be given bread, beer, and beef at least twice each week. It includes pages full of tips on how to stock a larder, the typical stores of fuel (wood and coal), and other “needfull necessaries.” There’s a section detailing the proper seasons for certain wildfowl and fish and pages of recipes, including how to “boyle and backe” turtle, oysters, and calves feet, as well how to make custard of both the “London” and “court” varieties.

MS Eng 637, Given in memory of George Lyman Kittredge, 1932