Blom Carl M (1 results)

Condition: Fine. Stockholm, J. G. Lange, 1785-87. 8:o. (6),272,(1) + (6),328 pp. Both volumes with engraved title vignette, the latter one pasted in. + Stockholm, J. G. Lange, 1785. 8:o. (4),20 pp. Two volumes uncut and partly unopened in contemporary grey paper wrappers, somewhat worn. Occasional foxing and minor spotting. Index volume disbound, with faint dampstain on title and some browning on the last leaf. Second volume with contemporary initials "E. S." on inside of front cover and a small number label on spine. A fine copy. Du Rietz Gastronomisk spegel 48. Blomqvist Mat och dryck i Sverige p. 286. A German translation was published in 1792. Edited after the death of the author by Samuel Ödmann and with a large number of supplementary notes by the latter. The separately published index to the first part was compiled by Carl Magnus Blom. The first part treats delicacies from the plant kingdom and the second those from the animal kingdom. Bergius and his editor Ödmann were on the one hand typical proponents of the encyclopedic spirit that is often associated with the enlightenment era. Their work is however also quite unique for its time, in its attempt to list and describe what were considered delicacies in all parts of the world. The information in "Tal om läckerheter" was mainly drawn from printed sources and references are made to over 800 works, many 17th- and 18th-century travel books by, for example, Chappe d'Auteroche, Cook, Dapper, Niebuhr, Pallas and Tavernier, the linnaean disciples Forsskål, Hasselquist, Löfling, Osbeck, Sparrman and many others. Several works by Linnaeus himself, who was on friendly terms with Bergius, are also referred to in the book, for example Flora Suecica and Hortus Cliffortianus. Furthermore, information was taken from many other sources dealing with natural history from the 16th century and onwards - works by Cardano, Mattioli, Seba and Trew, among others. Bergius and Ödmann also excerpted classical works by Aristotle, Hippocrates, Strabo and others, along with later historical works by, for example, Snorre Sturlasson and Olaus Magnus, the chroniclers of early Scandinavian history. The result is an impressive and entertaining historical and geographical survey of an incredibly varied array of foodstuffs, from juju berries to hedgehogs, many of which can no longer be tasted, such as the meat of the passenger pigeon and the dodo. A splendid new edition of "Tal om läckerheter", supplemented with scholarly commentaries and numerous fine illustrations, has recently (2015) been published in Sweden, thus reinforcing its standing as one of the great gastronomic classics in Swedish literature.…