A Catalan Cookery Book: A Collection of Impossible Recipes by Irving Davis (with 11 drypoints by Nicole Fenosa)

FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST CATALAN COOKBOOK IN ENGLISH. 101 pp. Irving Davis (1889-1967) was a well-known antiquarian book dealer and a little-known gourmet. At his death he had completed this collection of Catalan recipes, which he called "impossible" because he doubted (in jest) that they could be replicated outside Catalonia. A friend of Davis, food writer Patience Gray (best known for "Honey from a Weed"), edited the manuscript and added a preface and helpful notes. Nicole Fenosa (an artist, wife of Catalan sculptor Apel les Fenosa) contributed 11 ORIGINAL DRYPOINT ENGRAVINGS, 10 of which are full-page and hors-texte. Lucien Scheler, a very well-known Paris book dealer and also a friend of Davis', published the book. The names of the sixty dishes featured appear in both Catalan and English, the recipes themselves are entirely in English. EDITION LIMITED TO 165 NUMBERED COPIES, ALL PRINTED ON FINE RIVES WOVE PAPER, SIGNED IN PENCIL BY SCHELER AND FENOSA. 4to. Loose as issued in original wraps. UNCUT, FINE AND BRIGHT, WITH NO DEFECTS. In the original cloth chemise and slipcase (lettering on chemise a bit faded). A VERY RARE AND FASCINATING BOOK, one of the few cookbooks ever published in such a lavish edition. Quite an oddity: a French livre d'artiste in English, devoted to Catalan cuisine. Truly a labor of love.…