NO. 19, A.D. 1933, PARIS
Les dix livres de cuisine d’Apicius traduits du latin pour la Première fois et commentés par Bertrand Guégan. Paris René Bonnel Éditeur rue Blanche, No. 8.
No date (in fine October 16th, 1933). Three blank leaves, false title; on verso, facing the title page (!) “du mème auteur”—a full-page advertisement of the author’s many-sided publications, past and future. Title page, verso blank. On p. ix Introduction, a lengthy discourse on dining in ancient times, including a mention of Apician manuscripts and editions. This commences on p. Li with Les Manuscrits d’Apicius. The Introduction finishes on p. Lxxviii. On p. 1 Les Dix Livres d’Apicius, on p. 2 a facsimile in black of the incipit of the Vatican manuscript, Apiciana [II]. On p. 3 commences the translation into French of the Apician text, finishing on p. 308. Table Analytique (index) pp. 309-322. Follow three unnumbered sheets, on the first page of which is the Justification du tirage, with the date of printing and the printer’s name, Durand of Chartres. The copies printed are numbered from 1 to 679. The copy before us is No. 2; copies 1 to 4 are printed on Montval vellum, 5 to 29 on Dutch Pannekoek vellum, the rest, 30 to 679 on Vidalon vellum paper.
Unfortunately, the present work did not reach us until after ours had gone to press. The text of this edition, the first to appear in the French language, could not be considered in our work, for this reason.
However, a few casual remarks about it may be in order here.
A hasty perusal reveals the disconcerting fact that the editor has been influenced by and has followed the example of Schuch by the adoption of his system of numbering the recipes. We do not approve of his inclusion of the excerpts of Vinidarius in the Apician text.
The observations presented in this edition are rich and varied. The material, comprising the Introduction and also the explanatory notes to the recipes are interesting, copious and well-authenticated. The editor reveals himself to be a better scholar, well-read in the classics, than a practical cook, well-versed in kitchen practice. Frequently, for instance, he confounds liquamen with garum, the age-old shortcoming of the Apician scholars.
The advertisement facing the title page of this work is misplaced, disturbing.
Nevertheless, we welcome this French version which merits a thorough study; this we hope to publish at some future date. Any serious and new information on Apicius is welcome and much needed to clear up the mysteries. The advent of a few additional cooks on the scene doesn’t matter. Let them give lie to the old proverb that too many cooks spoil the broth. Apicius has been so thoroughly scrambled during the sixteen-hundred years preceding his first printing which started the scholars after him. So far, with the exception of a few minor instances, they have done remarkably well. The complete unscrambling can be done only by many new cooks, willing to devote much pain and unremunerative, careful, patient work in discovering new evidence and adding it to what there is already, to arrive at the truth of the matter.