A New System of Domestic Cookery
An English cookery book written by Maria Rundell and first published in 1806 by John Murray. It was the most popular English cookbook of the first half of the nineteenth century and one of the earliest English books to include a recipe for tomato sauce.
History
The first edition, from 1806, was a short collection of the author's recipes. Over time the text grew steadily, from 344 pages in its first edition to 644 pages in the 1865 edition.
It continued to be reprinted for some forty years after Rundell's death, and Emma Roberts revised the 64th edition, adding recipes of her own. The book also appeared in the United States, where it was credited to 'A Lady' and pirated editions circulated, and it was translated into German.
Culture
Unlike the disordered eighteenth-century English cookbooks, Rundell arranged her book into clear sections. Before the recipes she explains economy in the household, carving, stewing and the use of the bain-marie, and she advises on choosing good supplies. Its success helped to found the John Murray publishing empire, and today it is studied as a record of early Victorian domestic cooking.