MAISTRE D'HOSTEL (Le), qui apprend l'ordre de bien servir sur table & d'y ranger les services... Paris, Pierre David, 1659. In-8, fawn calf, spine ribbed and decorated, red edges (old binding). A very rare first edition. Dedicated to the cook Pierre de Lune, Le Maistre d'hostel contains general remarks on the duties of the position. "A little more developed is the chapter devoted to the sommelier, who is responsible not only for serving fruit and wine, but also for the art of folding napkins: this last point is set out in a series of examples which, although not illustrated with figures, are nevertheless quite detailed in their description of the gestures that need to be made to obtain shapes that are sometimes very complicated (napkins folded into the shape of a cockerel, a hen with its chicks, a suckling pig, pike, carp, turbot, etc.). However, it is the third and final part of the work that is by far the most developed: entitled Le Confiturier de la cour, it is none other than the treatise on jams also known as Confiturier françois, traditionally attributed to La Varenne, and therefore the first printed edition. [...] Nothing is said about the natural preservation of fruit; on the other hand, the art of the confectioner is methodically presented thanks to a preliminary explanation of the different ways of cooking sugar, and a section is also devoted to the preparation of salads" (Livres en bouche). Old binding heavily restored, spine renewed, copy washed. Light moulding, small worm work at the bottom of the leaves, fine paper restorations at the foot of pp. 110-120, paper defect restored at the time pp. 120-121. Vicaire, 553 - Livres en bouche, n°121 - Brunet, Supplément I, 925 (copy of Baron Pichon, the only one cited) - Cagle, 297.