Hannah Woolley, The Queen-Like Closet, or, Rich Cabinet: Stored with All Manner of Rare Receipts for Preserving, Candying & Cookery (1670)

Of all the books that an early modern woman might own, a book of domestic arts is perhaps least surprising. This cookery book by Hannah Woolley, marketed to “all ingenious persons of the female sex,” was previously owned by Thomasin Francklyn. Francklyn’s name is written on the verso of R12, the last printed leaf before the index.

The description from Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books tells us that Thomasin “was a Hampshire woman of some property, who believed in passing her wealth on to the women in her family. Her will, on file at the National Archives, lists bequests of five to 10 pounds to her sons, grandsons, and other relatives, the considerable sum of 20 pounds each to her two granddaughters, and the balance of her estate to her two daughters.”

Source: This scarce first edition offered for sale by Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books, 1/7/19. Images used with permission.