LA VARENNE (François-Pierre de). Le Cuisinier François, enseignant la manière de bien apprester & assaisonner toutes sortes de Viandes gras & maigres, légumes, patisseries, &c. (...) Third edition. Paris, Pierre David, 1652. In-8, repackaged in antique vellum. 8 ff. 354 pp. 15 ff. of table. Third edition, (unknown in reference bibliographies), published the same year as the second; the original 1651 edition is extremely rare. La Varenne (1618-1678) resolutely modernized cooking in the 17th century, which until then had been influenced by medieval and Italian Renaissance traditions; he was one of the first French cooks to take an interest in vegetables, introducing fatty sauces and the use of aromatic herbs, advocating the widespread use of pepper, moderating the use of spices, sugar, and cooking with bacon... He also conceived a new presentation of the cookbook, divided according to the order of the meals (soups, starters, roasts and entremets), all in a general order respecting the religious precepts: fatty days, lean days outside Lent, and Lent. In addition, La Varenne was the first to number his recipes, to use tables of contents, previously unknown in this type of work, and to assert himself as the author of his book by speaking in the first person. The works of this man, who was one of the first French cooks to pay attention to vegetables, were very successful, and Le Cuisinier français dominated the cookbook market throughout the second half of the 17th century; despite this, La Varenne remained the kitchen squire for the Marquis d'Uxelles, governor of Chalon-sur-Saône (the book's dedicatee), from 1640 until his death. Pale wetness, angular tear with missing last leaf reaching the text on 4 lines. Worm holes. Vellum handled. Handwritten title on the back. Some quires close to being detached. Vicaire, 495 (reports a fifth edition, 1654, with identical collation) - Livres en bouche, 106 - Bitting...: other editions.