[GASTRONOMY]. NIGNON (Edouard). L'Héptaméron des Gourmets ou - Lot 30

[GASTRONOMY]. NIGNON (Edouard). L'Héptaméron des Gourmets ou les Délices de la Cuisine française. First edition of "the most prestigious gastronomic publication of the 20th century" (Oberlé). Paris, sur les presses de Malherbe, 1919. Large in-4 (321 x 250 mm), red half-chagrin, spine ribbed with gilt titles. Top cover preserved. 2 ff.n.ch., V-248 pp., 1 f., ruled text, 1 portrait and 7 woodcut drawings, sanguine ornaments. First edition. Limited edition of 150 copies, this one of 120 numbered on Japanese imperial paper. Adorned with a portrait of Nignon etched by J. Patricot and 7 full-page engravings after O.D.V. Guillonnet and Henry Varenne, woodcut by Jaraud. With forewords by Lucien Descaves, Henri de Régnier, Guillaume Apollinaire. The author, Edouard Nignon, a little-known chef of the early 20th century, was nevertheless the cook of the Tsar of Russia, then of the Emperor of Austria, before becoming owner of the Larue restaurant on rue Royale in Paris. ??Subtitled the "Seven Days of the Pays de Cocagne", the Heptaméron features a literary text for each day of the week, written by some of the leading literary figures of the time (André Mary, Emile Godefroy, Laurent Tailhade, Guillaume Apollinaire, Henri de Régnier, Lucien Descaves, Fernand Fleuret), along with two menus, one for lunch, the other for dinner, and the recipes for each dish. The menus, which are particularly extensive, and the recipes, which are very clearly detailed, provide a first-rate account of the culinary habits and customs of the period, in a flowery, old-fashioned language that will delight literature lovers. The book is dedicated to the memory of the author's son (Marcel Nignon, an emblematic figure of 20th-century French cuisine), who was killed on October 8, 1914 on the Somme.