Le Pastissier François - photo 1
Le Pastissier François - photo 2

Le Pastissier François

Lot 79
16.10.2025 10:00UTC +01:00
Classic
Sold
$ 63 500
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1472002
Lot 79 | Le Pastissier François
Estimate value
$ 15 000 – 25 000
Le Pastissier François. Où est enseigné la manière de faire toute sorte de pastisserie, très-utile à toute sorte de personnes. Amsterdam: Louis & Daniel Elzevier, 1655.

The first book devoted to French pastry-making, a cornerstone of cuisine in the Grand Siècle. Second edition, a tall copy beautifully bound. This work was first published in Paris in 1653, but we trace no substantially complete copies of that edition in the auction records. It is often attributed to François Pierre de la Varenne (1618-1678), the author of Le Cuisinier François. However, recent scholarship discredits this. Distinctly from the Cuisinier, the Patissier is written for a bourgeois audience and not for full-time chefs. It was likely printed in the thousands and was among the least expensive books published by the Elzevirs, but due to its very popularity and heavy use in kitchens, very few complete copies survive. According to the preface, the aim of this work is "qu’il n’y aura doresenavant villes, villages, chasteaux, ny maisons champestres, où on ne se puisse traiter très-delicieusement en toutes les saisons de l’année" (*3v).

Despite its humble origins and production quality, this edition is second only to first editions by Descartes or Galileo as the most desired and expensive volumes of the Elzevir press. It is a thoroughly modern cookery book with detailed recipes for terrines, pastry creams, cakes, tarts, pies, gaufres, marzipan, macaroons, choux pastry, biscuits, and dozens of methods for cooking eggs. The charming frontispiece shows three cooks in a large kitchen, in the apparent preparation of game pies. Poultry and rabbits are strewn about and a rolling pin, tart casings, mincer, and a baker's peel are all in view. This is a lovely copy, of full height, and daintily bound. According to Willems, this copy was one of two still in wrappers and untouched when they were discovered in 1878. Its twin made the record price of 10,000 francs in 1878, a truly newsworthy sum for the time. Livres en bouche, 2002, p. 137; Vicaire p.660; Willems 1187 (no. 29 of the 29 copies then known).

12mo (140 x 80mm). Engraved additional title-page. Pages untrimmed. Morocco extra by Lortic, covers and spine richly gilt, red morocco pastedowns stamped with fleur-de-lys; pull-off navy morocco case also by Lortic. Provenance: a municipal library in Venice (according to Willems) – Librairie Morgand et Fatout, 1908 sale catalogue (no. 529) – Lord Carnarvon? (early note on the 1908 sale description laid in) – Mortimer L. Schiff (morocco bookplate).
Place of origin:France
Auction house category:Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
02.10.2025 – 16.10.2025
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
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