8vo. 247pp, [1]. With half-title, an engraved title page spread, numerous in-text illustrations, and a tipped-in errata slip to contents. Original publisher's printed grey cloth boards, title lettered in gilt to spine. Lightly rubbed and toned. Light scattered spotting.

The first edition, richly illustrated, of a volume on French cuisine by British chef and cookery writer Elizabeth David (1913-1992), who was widely credited for playing a significant role in the re-popularisation of home cookery in the British Isles and abroad. Within, David acknowledges her debt to several French icons of the genre, including sections on French culinary equipment and continental wine pairing; the book was highly successful, and by 1956 had been reprinted six times in the UK and published in the US.