Description
The first edition of The Edna Lewis Cookbook, inscribed by Edna Lewis, the first published work by the first African American celebrity chef.
Octavo, xviii, 198pp. Yellow cloth, title stamped in silver print on the spine. Stated “First printing” on the copyright page. Notable soiling to both covers, dust remnant along top edge of text block, soiling to leafends. Free of marginalia or writing. In the publisher’s first state dust jacket, price clipped, closed tears on both covers, sunning and soiling to spine, soiling to verso.
This copy is inscribed shortly after publication by Edna Lewis: “July 7, 1975 / To Glenda / Love and best wishes from Edna Lewis.”
A scarce signed work.
Edna Lewis (1916 – 2006) was an American chef, teacher, and cookbook author whose work helped bring traditional Southern cooking to national prominence. After moving to New York, she became associated with Café Nicholson, whose frequent visitors included William Faulkner, Marlon Brando, Marlene Dietrich, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Gloria Vanderbilt. Her other books include: The Taste of Country Cooking and In Pursuit of Flavor. In 1997, Edna Lewis was inducted into the African American Chefs Hall of Fame.
