The Gentleman's Companion Volume I / Being an Exotic Cookery Book / Or, Around the World With Knife, Fork and Spoon AND Volume II / Being an Exotic Drinking Book / Or, Around the World With Jigger, Beaker and Flask (NUMBERED, INSCRIBED AND SIGNED TO FELLOW YACHTSMAN AND TRAVEL WRITER FREDERIC FENGER)

Baker, Charles H., Jr.

Published by The Derrydale Press, New York, 1939

About this Item

Matching volumes, both numbered "728" out of a run of 1,250, both hand-dated 6 Feb. 1950 ("Java Head, Coconut Grove, Fla."), both signed by the author in blue ink to the blank FFE following lengthy inscriptions to Fritz and Kitty Fenger, and both bearing the bookplates of Frederic Abildgaard Fenger. The top edges of volume II are partially stained from a spill that also marks the rear endpapers of that volume -- our guess is coffee -- though text pages are not affected. Photographic Christmas cards (1942, 1954) from the Bakers to the Fenger family also glued in, one bearing a lengthy inscription from Paulette Baker. Fenger, author of "Alone in the Caribbean" as well as "The Cruise of the Diablesse" is mentioned to pg. 4 of Volume II, and receives a more substantial treatment as "sailor, author, explorer, raconteur, naval architect & gourmet" where he's credited for his "Oyster Pan-Roast, Diablesse," at pg. 77 of Volume I. Fenger is also credited with several exotic drink recipes in Volume II, those references indexed in his typewritten note to the front pastedown. Author Baker (1895-1987) traveled the world during Prohibition in search of exotic food and drink recipes for magazines including Esquire, Gourmet, and Town & Country. An "unlikely hybrid of Indiana Jones and Jay Gatsby, . . . a Gilded Age bon vivant who almost singlehandedly imported 'exotic' foreign drinks onto menus across the United States long before mass market jet travel" (per "Conde Nast Traveler," July 26, 2017), his writings are fondly regarded not only for his detailed recipes but also for his anecdotes recalling such drinking and dining companions as Faulkner, Hemingway, and Errol Flynn. His marriage to mining heiress Pauline Paulsen helped finance his travels as well as their estate, "Java Head," near Miami. Volume I grades very good; Volume II downgraded to "good" due to the aforementioned stain. NO slipcase; no jackets as issued. PLEASE NOTE: Overseas shipment of this heavy pair of books is likely to cost $75. In our experience, delivery to Italy, Western Australia, or the South of France is likely to take as much as 90 days, regardlless of USPS "estimates." Reduced from $3,500.

Seller Inventory # 006934

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Gentleman's Companion Volume I / Being an Exotic Cookery Book / Or, Around the World With Knife, Fork and Spoon AND Volume II / Being an Exotic Drinking Book / Or, Around the World With Jigger, Beaker and Flask (NUMBERED, INSCRIBED AND SIGNED TO FELLOW YACHTSMAN AND TRAVEL WRITER FREDERIC FENGER)
• Publisher: The Derrydale Press, New York
• Publication Date: 1939
• Language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Travel & Exploration
  • Cookbooks, cuisine
  • Rare Books