Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Julia Child. The French Chef Cookbook (Signed by Julia Child). Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1968.
Price: US$700.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Signed and inscribed on the half-title page ( 'Bon Appétit to Sadie, Julia Child' ). Stated 'Second printing May 1968.' The first printing was published a month earlier. Signed copies of her second book are fairly rare. I have held onto this one for a long time. You can see the decorated covers in the photos. They are exceptionally clean. There is not very much wear, a thin superficial scratch off the front bottom edge, a little bit of crinkling at both spine ends with a few small spots of rubbing, a pinprick-sized nick off the bottom edge of the rear cover, very small spots of superficial rubbing at the corners. The cover edges look very good, one tiny nick at the rear top one. The top page edge has a gray topstain, no soiling. The middle and bottom page edges look good, no conspicuous stains. The book is square and the spine is straight. The binding is solid. If you pull at the front cover from the side it has the tiniest bit of give, stress on 'tiniest'. The juncture between the front inside cover and front end paper looks fine, no cracks or spaces. That appears to be the case with all the pages. I didn't find any cracks or spaces between any of them. The rear cover is very solidly bound. The blue inside covers and end papers look very good. The pages are in nice condition. They are pretty bright, not toned. In the main, they are quite clean. In fact, there may not be any soiling. There is some occasional light, amber spotting. There is one such small spot near to the bottom edge of the signed half-title page (see photo), also the same on its verso side. I counted eight consecutive pages later the book with one or a few amber spots off their bottom edge, same thing with three other consecutive pages. I went through the pages pretty carefully but I would imagine I missed a few other such fairly inconspicuous spots. The great majority of pages, therefore, are perfectly clean, free of any spotting/foxing. There are sixteen pages of photographs. They are perfectly clean and free of any spotting. I didn't see any placeholder creases. The bottom corners of five consecutive pages got folded in (not too far above the tips and obviously far from the print). I had flattened them out, but there are still small creases there. There are no markings in the book. There are no attachments of any kind. And Ms. Child's signed inscription represents the only writing to be found anywhere. The dust jacket appears to be from the first printing. 4/68 is printed off the bottom edge of its front flap. You can see the jacket in the photos. I have always had it in a fitted protective cover. There doesn't appear to be any staining, pretty good for white covers. There are several edge tears, along with a crease off the rear top edge. There is a tiny bit of loss at the juncture of the top edge of the spine and rear cover. Three of the four corners of the middle edges have the not atypical tiny losses. The white flaps are also exceptionally clean, no soiling. The front flap does have a thin vertical crease coming down from its top corner to the middle of its bottom edge. The rear flap has a shorter one, also a thin, that crosses from its inside edge to its bottom edge. The jacket is NOT price-clipped ($6.95), not clipped at all. From the dust jacket: 'As any Julia Child fan-- and who isn't-- knows, the recipes are worked out to perfection and the selection is designed to introduce Americans to a wide range of French cooking.'
Seller: Rareeclectic, pound ridge, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$2250.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Stylishly signed by Julia Child and Paul Child at half-title page: "Julia Child, Paul Child." Very attractive signatures contemporaneous with publishing of this volume. Stated seventeenth printing, May 1968. 1968 at title page; notably larger font for year than earlier editions. Patterned fleur-de-lis boards w/turquoise stars, black and white cover and spine titles on orange fields, light shelf wear. Pages generally near fine, crisp. Two summer 1971 news clippings from the Seattle Post Intelligencer set in at front pages; some toning from these to pages. Each article features unique detail on Julia Child with images and a chocolate cake recipe. Interestingly, this volume also features an inscription at front endpaper with seventeen distinct signatures below: "T'was the night before Christmas 1968. Charles Pfifer, John Courage, Marin Martin" et al. Appears this signed volume may have been a Christmas eve gift and after search, few of the names appear to possibly have been a journalist, a producer, and an artist. Bind fine, hinges fully intact. Original dust wrapper, moderate shelf wear, rub, coffee cup ring to front panel; protected in new clear sleeve. Rare near fine signed original single volume edition in very good wrapper. "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" is for both seasoned cooks and beginners who love good food & long to reproduce at home the savory delights of the classic cuisine, from the historic Gallic masterpieces to the seemingly artless perfection of a dish of spring-green peas. This beautiful book, with over 100 instructive illustrations, is revolutionary in its approach because: It leads the cook infallibly from the buying and handling of raw ingredients, through each essential step of a recipe, to the final creation of a delicate confection. It breaks down the classic cuisine into a logical sequence of themes and variations rather than presenting an endless and diffuse catalogue of recipes; the focus is on key recipes that form the backbone of French cookery and lend themselves to an infinite number of elaborations bound to increase anyone's culinary repertoire. 684 pages plus 32 page index. Insured post. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall
Seller: The BiblioFile, Rapid River, MI, U.S.A.