The Joy of Cooking; A Compilation of Reliable Recipes with a Casual Culinary Chat - Illustrations Marion Rombauer
St. Louis: Self Published, 1931. First Edition. Hardcover. 395 pages. 20 x 14 cm. A remarkably well-preserved copy of the first 1931 edition of The Joy of Cooking, complete with its original dust jacket designed and illustrated by the author’s daughter, Marion Rombauer. The jacket, though showing evident wear, retains much of its integrity, including Marion’s celebrated portrayal of St. Martha of Bethany—the patron saint of cooking—fending off a dragon with a mop.
This copy bears a gift inscription beneath a “Merry Christmas” sticker on the front endpaper from Julius T. Rombauer, a St. Louis wool company executive and first cousin of Irma Rombauer’s late husband, Edgar. A laid-in invitation to Julius’s 50th wedding anniversary celebration at the Missouri Athletic Club on December 12, 1944, provides a likely context for the book’s presentation.
Irma S. Rombauer privately financed and published 3,000 copies of this first edition using the modest insurance settlement she received following her husband’s death by suicide in 1930, which left her with three children and little financial support. The volume sold out rapidly and was subsequently acquired by Bobbs-Merrill for commercial publication in 1936. Since then, it has become one of the most influential and enduring American cookbooks, with sales exceeding 20 million copies. A superb example of a twentieth-century landmark, this copy carries a meaningful Rombauer family association, remains in exceptional condition, and retains its exceedingly scarce original dust jacket. Interior clean with very light toning to outer pages. Boards lightly rubbed at head and tail of spine. Dust wrapper heavily chipped and three hinges. Covered in protective mylar. [BROWN 1963] [BITTING 403] [CAGLE 653]. Blue cloth covered boards, title in gilt. Very good, in deficient dust wrapper. Item #4743
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