8vo. 8pp. With a double-sided lithographed plan at end. Sewn, as issued. Some heavy spotting, short tear to gutter-margin of title. With vertical fold. From the library of Glaswegian art collector and bibliophile B. B. MacGeorge Esq.

A remarkable survival of the official instructions, provided to serving staff at a lavish ten-course meal held at City Hall on October 6 1883. A spectacle of high-Victorian elite power, the civic banquet held to mark the laying of the foundation stone of the Glasgow Municipal Buildings hosted 172 guests drawn from Glaswegian high society.

The first page of this guide lists the expansive menu in full, with the accompanying list of wines (including Ponche et Xeres, Rudesheimer Hock, Heidseick's 'Dry Monopole' Champagne, Burgundy from Chateau Coutet and a choice of Port, Sherry or Chateau Margaux Claret to accompany dessert), but it is the general instructions and the detailed running order of the service on pages 6-8 which provide the most insight into the meal - and serving thereof - itself. As an example, waiters are told that on serving the soup ('Clear and Thick Turtle and Green Fat, puree of Game') the 'meat stays at the bottom of the tureen. Give a good proportion of meat to each helping, and remember the American who liked to see the Turtle running around the plate. You wouldn't think much of the Turtle if it was offered to you without the Green Fat'. The third course, 'Vol-au-Vent a la Toulouse, Lobster a la Bonnefoy', the latter is described as 'dressed in the style of the celebrated Parisian Restauranteur', and waiters are advised that 'it is not desirable that any of it shall be brought back from the table on this occasion'. For the 7th course, the demeanour of the serving staff was also deemed crucial:

'Game! and everybody in the height of enjoyment! "Woodcock, Partridge, Pheasant, Grouse, or Blackcock, sir". See Toast with the Woodcock, Bread Sauce with Partridge and Phesant, Crumbs with Grouse and Blackcock.'

Even greater specificity is applied to the service of wine. Fully 17 lines are devoted to the service of the Heidsieck Dry Monopole Champagne, including advice on the fact that 'guests like to hear the corks speak, and are likely to think the wine is flat unless they hear it Pop', but that 'all the string' must come off with the work, to avoid wine being 'ruined and condemned as "corked" because a careless butler has in opening left the string on the bottle'. Ice is specifically prohibited to be served with wine 'unless requested. Wine is spoiled in this manner. The proper way to Ice Wine is to put the Bottles into Ice Tubs'. There is the occasional nod to local spirits; whilst the liqueurs recommended are Benedictine, Green Chartreuse and Creme de Cognac, 'a Dram of Whisky' was also allowed.

Almost certainly produced in a very small number, and in most cases likely discarded immediately, unsurprisingly there are no other known copies in the usual databases of this gourmet record and demonstration of elite spectacle.