The French Chef Cookbook (Signed by Julia Child)

Julia Child

Published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1968

About this Item

Signed and inscribed on the half-title page ( 'Bon Appétit to Sadie, Julia Child' ). Stated 'Second printing May 1968.' The first printing was published a month earlier. Signed copies of her second book are fairly rare. I have held onto this one for a long time. You can see the decorated covers in the photos. They are exceptionally clean. There is not very much wear, a thin superficial scratch off the front bottom edge, a little bit of crinkling at both spine ends with a few small spots of rubbing, a pinprick-sized nick off the bottom edge of the rear cover, very small spots of superficial rubbing at the corners. The cover edges look very good, one tiny nick at the rear top one. The top page edge has a gray topstain, no soiling. The middle and bottom page edges look good, no conspicuous stains. The book is square and the spine is straight. The binding is solid. If you pull at the front cover from the side it has the tiniest bit of give, stress on 'tiniest'. The juncture between the front inside cover and front end paper looks fine, no cracks or spaces. That appears to be the case with all the pages. I didn't find any cracks or spaces between any of them. The rear cover is very solidly bound. The blue inside covers and end papers look very good. The pages are in nice condition. They are pretty bright, not toned. In the main, they are quite clean. In fact, there may not be any soiling. There is some occasional light, amber spotting. There is one such small spot near to the bottom edge of the signed half-title page (see photo), also the same on its verso side. I counted eight consecutive pages later the book with one or a few amber spots off their bottom edge, same thing with three other consecutive pages. I went through the pages pretty carefully but I would imagine I missed a few other such fairly inconspicuous spots. The great majority of pages, therefore, are perfectly clean, free of any spotting/foxing. There are sixteen pages of photographs. They are perfectly clean and free of any spotting. I didn't see any placeholder creases. The bottom corners of five consecutive pages got folded in (not too far above the tips and obviously far from the print). I had flattened them out, but there are still small creases there. There are no markings in the book. There are no attachments of any kind. And Ms. Child's signed inscription represents the only writing to be found anywhere. The dust jacket appears to be from the first printing. 4/68 is printed off the bottom edge of its front flap. You can see the jacket in the photos. I have always had it in a fitted protective cover. There doesn't appear to be any staining, pretty good for white covers. There are several edge tears, along with a crease off the rear top edge. There is a tiny bit of loss at the juncture of the top edge of the spine and rear cover. Three of the four corners of the middle edges have the not atypical tiny losses. The white flaps are also exceptionally clean, no soiling. The front flap does have a thin vertical crease coming down from its top corner to the middle of its bottom edge. The rear flap has a shorter one, also a thin, that crosses from its inside edge to its bottom edge. The jacket is NOT price-clipped ($6.95), not clipped at all. From the dust jacket: 'As any Julia Child fan-- and who isn't-- knows, the recipes are worked out to perfection and the selection is designed to introduce Americans to a wide range of French cooking.'.

Seller Inventory # 005341

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The French Chef Cookbook (Signed by Julia Child)
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, New York
• Publication Date: 1968
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Drawings and photographs by Paul Child; Jacket design by Dick Adelson
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Good
• Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Crème de la crème
  • Signed Celebrities, Actors, Actresses
  • Cookbooks, Food, Recipes, Cooking