Cocoa: All About It
London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company, Limited, 1896.
Second Edition. Hardcover. Dive into this delicious 19th century ode to cocoa beans, brimming with chapters on the history of cocoa, its use and cultivation in in Mexico and Central America, the manufacture of chocolate, and its valued companion, the vanilla plant. Written under the nom de plume of 'Historicus,' this history of cocoa is the work of none other than Richard Barrow Cadbury (1835–1899), the famous English chocolate-maker, philanthropist, son of the founder of Cadbury's cocoa and chocolate company, and responsible for the producing the first heart-shaped box of chocolates for Valentine's Day in 1868. Cheerfully bound in red and gold, illustrated in a fold-out frontispiece, 21 plates, 3 in color, as well as in-text vignettes and pictorial headpieces throughout, this 1896 ode to cocoa is the perfect book to curl up with over a warm cup of something chocolatey this winter!
8 1/2" X 6 1/2". [vi], 99pp, plus page of blurbs. Presents nicely in protective archival jacket. Bound in dee red cloth over boards, with upper board and spine lettered in gilt and decoratively bordered in gilt, continued in blind to rear board. Moderate wear to binding, with small dampstain spots to upper board (perhaps a spilled cup of hot cocoa!), bumping to extremities, and slight lean to spine. Small stain to bottom edge of text block, also foxed. Some gatherings uneven, front hinge just starting to crack; binding remains quite firm and sound. Gray coated endpapers. Gift inscription to flyleaf. Occasionally foxing to pages, else unmarked. Very good. Item #17184
Price: $110.00