8vo. [4], xvi, 540pp, [16]. With six engraved plates. Contemporary gilt-tooled calf, recently rebacked, red calf lettering-piece. Boards worn, corners exposed. Later ink-stamp of J. S. Orgill to foot of dust-soiled title page, marginal loss to leaf Gg4, scattered spotting.

The second edition of an anonymous, early nineteenth century domestic manual; first published in 1811. The text is primarily concerned with 'cultivating the mind' of 'young females', for whose sake the 'unnecessary and useless' subject of arithmetic has apparently been omitted. Alongside its selection of recipes, the volume contains instructions for domestic duties as varied as the carving of meat, the brewing of liquor, letter writing, painting, and marketing. The terminal selection of 'miscellaneous pieces' includes an essay on 'the female character', which extols Solomon's description of the virtuous woman and expresses 'the importance of forming it by education...for we are all born equally ignorant, and are what we are by instruction'.