Awful Library Books

Soyer’s Paper-Bag Cookery
Soyer
1911

Submitter: According to Nicholas Soyer, the method of paper-bag cookery “has made a great furor in England,” and, despite initial setbacks (“the paper got burnt, and soon afterwards it exploded”), is perfect for cooking nearly everything, except for “macaroni or kindred Italian pastes.”  Various recipes for things like mutton stew are interspersed with weird narratives in which the testy author tells people to just “paper bag it” whenever they want cooking advice.  I’ve included a sample recipe for mutton stew, the cover, and a strange excerpt for your awful library books viewing pleasure!

Holly: The submitter is from a public research library associated with a major university.  That’s not the worst place for this book.  Sadly, though, it is also available in a multitude of public libraries around the country.  It’s interesting and quirky…but as part of a regular collection I’ll take the leap and call it an awful library book.