Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

Emily (or, Emilie) Scott Knapp of New Orleans, Louisiana, and at least one other author recorded recipes, household notes, brief diary entries, and financial accounts in this volume (roughly 72 pages) in the mid-19th century. Approximately five receipts and newspaper clippings are pinned, pasted, or laid in the volume. Interspersed throughout is other household information such as rules for cream tartar, washing instructions and soap recipes, a list of weekly tasks with meal planning, candle making directions, hair dye recipe, chimney and lamp cleaning, "curiosities culled from the history of England," gardening, a prescription for a Knapp child (Dr. J. S. Knapp, Terre Haute, Indiana), and silver cleaning. Recipes included are for tomato catsup, "floating island," and many different cakes. There are several newspaper clippings-"A Steamboatman's Cure for the Cholera," "Lamp Chimneys," "Bones for Grape Vines, Bugs and Cucumbers, Blackberry Cordial," and "Blackberry Wine." Additional sections contain accounts for the purchase of cloth and sewing goods (pp. 1-3), brief undated diary entries focusing on culinary preparation and household work (pp. 13-25), biographical information about Anne Boleyn (p. 27), plans for the construction of a garden (pp. 60-63), and "Extracts from the Southern Ruralist," which are housekeeping tips (pp. 65-71).