= Bitting p.361. Rare first editon (with the dedication signed "the editor", later editions signed "S. Pegge"). A rare collection of medieval English recipes by "the chief Master Cooks of King Richard II", here first published by the Lincolnshire antiquary Samuel Pegge. Originally found on a fourteenth century scroll now in the John Ryland Library. The British Library states: "The Forme of Cury is the first English text to mention olive oil, cloves, mace, and gourds in relation to British food. Most of the recipes contain what were then luxurious and valuable spices, including caraway, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger and pepper. There are also recipes for cooking strange and exotic animals, such as whales, cranes, curlews, herons, seals, and porpoises." It also features some early pasta dishes.
First blank repaired; occas. minor waterstains and spotting; without the portrait (of which Bitting states it is rare and dated 1785).