A New System of Domestic Cookery (1815)

A New System of Domestic Cookery, first published in 1806 by Maria Rundell, was the most popular English cookery book of the first half of the nineteenth century; it is often referred to simply as Mrs Rundell, but its full title is A New System of Domestic Cookery: Formed Upon Principles of Economy; and Adapted to the Use of Private Families.

Mrs Rundell has been called “the original domestic goddess”[a] and her book “a publishing sensation” and “the most famous cookery book of its time”. It ran to over 67 editions; the 1865 edition had grown to 644 pages, and earned two thousand guineas.

The first edition of 1806 was a short collection of Rundell’s recipes published by John Murray. It went through dozens of editions, both legitimate and pirated, in both Britain and the United States, where the first edition was published in 1807. The frontispiece typically credited the authorship to “A Lady”. Later editions continued for some forty years after Rundell’s death. Emma Roberts edited the 64th edition, adding some recipes of her own.

Sales of A New System of Domestic Cookery helped to found the John Murray publishing empire. Sales in Britain were over 245,000; worldwide, over 500,000; the book stayed in print until the 1880s. When Rundell and Murray fell out, she approached a rival publisher, Longman’s, leading to a legal battle.