A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD: CONTAINING CRUMBS CULLED FROM THE CUPBOARDS OF THE GREAT UNWEDDED

Boston, Massachusetts: John W. Luce & Company, 1906. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Will Jenkins. 8vo. Green cloth boards with decoration and lettering stamped to front and spine. Rubbing to extremities and a few smudges to front board. "...195 x 123 mm. [1] [2-14] [15]; 112 leaves. pp. [8] [1] 2-209 [210] [6]. Leaf 15, contains publisher's advertisements; last two leaves, blank..." Table of Contents page, and a number of other pages, still unopened. (Axford P. 24; Cagle and Stafford 605).

Chapters include: On Being a Bachelor; The Impecunious Bachelor; Stocking the Cupboard; Bachelor Ettiquette; Carving and Game; Snacks of Sea Food; A Chat on Cheese; Devils & Grills; Bachelor Bonnes Bouchees; Concerning Condiments; Various Variations with Vegetables; A Dissertation on Drinks; What to Pay for Wines and How to Choose them; Correct Wines for All Occasions; Correct Clothes; How a Man May Valet Himself; How to Cleanse Clothing; Handy Hints on Housekeeping;. A remarkably clever, early twentieth-century gathering of Bachelorian wit, wisdom and culinary receipts and instructions, not so dissimilar to our latter day "A Man A Can A Plan", the novelty board book for men alas, left on their own while "mother" goes off to her mother, or just to breathe, most likely.

The author begins with a veritable dissertation on the nature of the bachelor, and his indispensability to the world, the culture, and all things marking the best in taste.

"...It is the bachelor who makes society; without him it would indeed be tame and find itself dwindling down into a hot-bed of discontent, satiety and monotony. He adds just the right touch of piquancy to its hothouse existence and furnishes husbands for its debutantes and flirtations for its married women. His versatility makes him a valuable acquisition to any gathering. He knows the correct thing in dress, the latest novelty of the London haberdasher and what the King is wearing to Ascot. He is familiar with the etiquette of European courts and American drawing rooms and can...valet himself if he has to, and does not scorn to clean his own boots in an emergency..."