{"id":3028,"date":"2021-07-27T18:53:04","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T18:53:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhibitions.bgc.bard.edu\/stagingthetable\/?p=3028"},"modified":"2024-10-24T16:17:47","modified_gmt":"2024-10-24T16:17:47","slug":"carving-by-the-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhibitions.bgc.bard.edu\/stagingthetable\/carving-by-the-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Carving by the Book"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"section<\/span><\/div>

*Carving by the Book*<\/strong><\/p><\/h1><\/div>

\"section<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"section<\/span><\/div>

*Carving by the Book*<\/strong><\/p><\/h1><\/div>

\"section<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"\"he carver\u2019s art has been recognized since antiquity, as documented in the passage on the homepage from first-century CE Roman author Juvenal, but texts demonstrating how to carve survive only from the late Middle Ages. For example, Wynkyn de Worde\u2019s <\/span>Boke of Keruynge<\/span><\/i> from 1508 provides detailed instructions for dissecting and serving a variety of animals from field, forest, stream, and pasture. Each dish demanded a particular verb for its undoing: the carver must <\/span>break<\/span><\/i> a deer, <\/span>rear<\/span><\/i> a goose, <\/span>lift<\/span><\/i> a swan, <\/span>spoil<\/span><\/i> a hen, <\/span>fruche<\/span><\/i> a chicken, <\/span>unbrace<\/span><\/i> a mallard, <\/span>unlace<\/span><\/i> a coney, <\/span>display<\/span><\/i> a crane, <\/span>disfigure<\/span><\/i> a peacock, <\/span>allay<\/span><\/i> a pheasant, <\/span>wing<\/span><\/i> a partridge, <\/span>mince<\/span><\/i> a plover, <\/span>thigh<\/span><\/i> a pigeon, <\/span>tyre<\/span><\/i> an egg, <\/span>splat<\/span><\/i> a pike, <\/span>splay<\/span><\/i> a bream, and so on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Illustration<\/a><\/span><\/div>

Above: <\/span>Wynkyn de Worde, title page, from Here begynneth the boke of keruynge <\/i>. . . (London: Wynkyn de Worde, 1508). Woodcut. Reproduced by kind permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library, Sel.5.19.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"section<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

*Carving Methods* <\/strong><\/span>Starting in the sixteenth century, illustrated books provided pictures and diagrams explaining the methods of carving. The pages on view share a similar approach to the representation of these skills which were both technical and performative. Woodcuts and copperplate engravings instructed readers and users without limitations of language and were reproduced freely since copyright or other intellectual property laws were difficult to enforce, if they existed at all. Topics for illustration included carving tools, techniques for carving different cuts of meat, whole fowl, and fish; and methods for peeling fruit and fashioning it into animals and geometric forms.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Left: <\/span>Vincenzo Cervio, from <\/span>Il Trinciante . . . ampliato et a perfettione ridotto dal Cavalier Reale Fusoritto da Narni <\/span><\/i>(Rome: Gabbia, 1593). Woodcut. Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library, *KB 1593 (Cervio, V. Trinciante).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

*Carving Methods* <\/strong><\/span>Starting in the sixteenth century, illustrated books provided pictures and diagrams explaining the methods of carving. The pages on view share a similar approach to the representation of these skills which were both technical and performative. Woodcuts and copperplate engravings instructed readers and users without limitations of language and were reproduced freely since copyright or other intellectual property laws were difficult to enforce, if they existed at all. Topics for illustration included carving tools, techniques for carving different cuts of meat, whole fowl, and fish; and methods for peeling fruit and fashioning it into animals and geometric forms.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

\"An<\/a><\/span><\/div>

Above: <\/span>Vincenzo Cervio, from <\/span>Il Trinciante . . . ampliato et a perfettione ridotto dal Cavalier Reale Fusoritto da Narni <\/span><\/i>(Rome: Gabbia, 1593). Woodcut. Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library, *KB 1593 (Cervio, V. Trinciante).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

* * *<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

* * *<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

*Capon* <\/strong><\/span>This diminutive book with woodcut images of carving meats, fowl, and fruits is unsigned and undated. An introductory chapter, written in French \u201cfor the benefit of the traveler,\u201d outlines the methods for carving and serving the foods illustrated, with detailed instructions for each. The capon is the first of the birds, shown together with the hand of the carver holding the knife. Some of the numbers indicating the order of attack have been added by hand, evidence that the book was used.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

*Capon* <\/strong><\/span>This diminutive book with woodcut images of carving meats, fowl, and fruits is unsigned and undated. An introductory chapter, written in French \u201cfor the benefit of the traveler,\u201d outlines the methods for carving and serving the foods illustrated, with detailed instructions for each. The capon is the first of the birds, shown together with the hand of the carver holding the knife. Some of the numbers indicating the order of attack have been added by hand, evidence that the book was used.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

\"A<\/a><\/span><\/div>

Above: <\/span>Le chapon, from <\/span>De Sectione Mensaria <\/span><\/i>(17th century). Woodcut. Special Collections, Regenstein Library, University of Chicago, TX635.D4 1600z c.1.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

This Dutch carving manual, \u201cThe graceful carving of all dishes for the table,\u201d follows the oblong format established by Mattia Giegher. The title page shows a diner sitting at a square table covered with various small dishes and one large pie garnished with a flower. To his left, a carver holds some kind of winged roast, poised to slice it in aria.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Illustration<\/a><\/span><\/div>

Above: <\/span>Title page, from De Cierlijcke Voorsnydinge Aller Tafel Gerechten<\/em> . . . (Amsterdam: Hieronymous Sweerts, ca. 1660). Engraving. Courtesy the New York Academy of Medicine Library, RB.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

This Dutch carving manual, \u201cThe graceful carving of all dishes for the table,\u201d follows the oblong format established by Mattia Giegher. The title page shows a diner sitting at a square table covered with various small dishes and one large pie garnished with a flower. To his left, a carver holds some kind of winged roast, poised to slice it in aria.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Left: <\/span>Title page, from De Cierlijcke Voorsnydinge Aller Tafel Gerechten<\/em> . . . (Amsterdam: Hieronymous Sweerts, ca. 1660). Engraving. Courtesy the New York Academy of Medicine Library, RB.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Italian carving techniques made their way to England by way of Giles Rose\u2019s book, a translation of a 1662 French book with the same name. The page illustrating \u201cthe dissection of a Capon after the Italian fashion\u201d presents a schematic diagram with a series of numbers corresponding to cuts. The text explains, \u201cthe Italians cut a Capon into a great many pieces; and those pieces are very small.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Right: <\/span>Anonymous, translated from French by Giles Rose, Capon, from <\/span>A Perfect School of Instructions for the Officers of the Mouth<\/span><\/i> . . . , page 43 (London: R. Bentley and M. Magnes, 1682). Engraving. The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, TX705.R79.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Italian carving techniques made their way to England by way of Giles Rose\u2019s book, a translation of a 1662 French book with the same name. The page illustrating \u201cthe dissection of a Capon after the Italian fashion\u201d presents a schematic diagram with a series of numbers corresponding to cuts. The text explains, \u201cthe Italians cut a Capon into a great many pieces; and those pieces are very small.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

\"A<\/a><\/span><\/div>

Above: <\/span>Anonymous, translated from French by Giles Rose, Capon, from <\/span>A Perfect School of Instructions for the Officers of the Mouth<\/span><\/i> . . . , page 43 (London: R. Bentley and M. Magnes, 1682). Engraving. The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, TX705.R79.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

These two related books are hybrids, containing both printed images and handwritten text. They feature very similar engravings of cooked meats and fowl on platters, ready to be carved, along with diagrams of how to slice fruits. The text was copied onto loose sheets, while images were distributed as handouts and bound at a later date. Perhaps Jacques Vontet, a Swiss carving teacher, provided the master copy, while his pupils made notes on the engraved images and copied the explanations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each opening consists of a text page, with small variations in spelling and word choice, and a corresponding engraving. Under the heading \u201cLa maniere de trancher la poule Bouillie ou chapon rosty\u201d (the manner of carving a boiled chicken or a roast capon), the following instructions are provided: \u201cThe boiled chicken has a very good taste and provides excellent nourishment more suited to young people than the capon due to the fact that it does not transmit as much heat as the capon. One carves it in two ways: in the air, or if it is too well-done, on the plate. It is done in the same way as the capon and it is carved according to the figure, according to which one may also carve the roast capon.\u201d The mention of the relative heat of boiled and roasted chicken echoes regimen literature that credits foods with inherent qualities that make them more or less desirable based on the way they interact with an individual\u2019s humoral constitution.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

\"An<\/a><\/span><\/div>
\"An<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>

These two related books are hybrids, containing both printed images and handwritten text. They feature very similar engravings of cooked meats and fowl on platters, ready to be carved, along with diagrams of how to slice fruits. The text was copied onto loose sheets, while images were distributed as handouts and bound at a later date. Perhaps Jacques Vontet, a Swiss carving teacher, provided the master copy, while his pupils made notes on the engraved images and copied the explanations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each opening consists of a text page, with small variations in spelling and word choice, and a corresponding engraving. Under the heading \u201cLa maniere de trancher la poule Bouillie ou chapon rosty\u201d (the manner of carving a boiled chicken or a roast capon), the following instructions are provided: \u201cThe boiled chicken has a very good taste and provides excellent nourishment more suited to young people than the capon due to the fact that it does not transmit as much heat as the capon. One carves it in two ways: in the air, or if it is too well-done, on the plate. It is done in the same way as the capon and it is carved according to the figure, according to which one may also carve the roast capon.\u201d The mention of the relative heat of boiled and roasted chicken echoes regimen literature that credits foods with inherent qualities that make them more or less desirable based on the way they interact with an individual\u2019s humoral constitution.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Above Top: <\/span>Jacques Vontet, La Methode de trancher alo\u00fcetes Beqeufis, et ortolans avec toute sorte d\u2019autres petits oyseaux<\/em> (Lyon or Paris, ca. 1647\u201350). Iron-gall ink on paper. PY Rare Books. \/\u00a0<\/span> Bottom: <\/span>Jacques Vontet, No. 1 Au Lecteur Ce n\u2019est pas sans Raison que les plus grands personnages de L\u2019Europe se servent d\u2019Escuyer tranchant<\/em> (Lyon or Paris, ca. 1647\u201350). Manuscript. Ben Kinmont Bookseller.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

* * *<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

*Fruits* <\/strong><\/span>Georg Philipp Harsd\u00f6rffer, a seventeenth-century literary figure, adapted Italian carving manuals for his learned German audience, among many other projects. These images introduce a subsection on the carving of fruit. Shown on top, a dais of solid rectangular blocks anchors a stout column draped with swags of skillfully carved fruits. Atop the column rest carving tools, a book, and two matched pairs of apples and pears. The meaning of this puzzling illustration is revealed by a rhyming verse on the following page: the knife is there to slice the fruit, not the hand nor the truth, since lies should melt into the air without effect and would not therefore need a knife. Several pages of introductory text follow, in which the author gives credit to \u201cMathematischer Wissenschaften\u201d (mathematical sciences) as the wellspring of knowledge on how to slice and present fruits. <\/span>Displayed below, a page from this section of the book demonstrates \u201cthe way to carve stars and figures of fruits,\u201d inscribing geometric forms onto the abstracted fruit.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Right Top: <\/span>Georg Philipp Harsd\u00f6rffer, \u201cAnhang zu dem Andern theil, von fr\u00fcchten schneiden,\u201d em>Vollst\u00e4ndiges und von neuem vermehrtes Trincir-Buch . . . (Nuremberg: Paul F\u00fcrst, 1665). Engraving. Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University, New York, B641 H25. \/\u00a0<\/span> Bottom: <\/span>Georg Philipp Harsd\u00f6rffer, \u201cArth und weis sternen und figuren in fr\u00fcchte zuschneiden,\u201d Vollst\u00e4ndiges und von neuem vermehrtes Trincir-Buch<\/em> . . . (Nuremberg: Paul F\u00fcrst, 1665). Engraving. Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University, New York, B641 H25.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

*Fruits* <\/strong><\/span>Georg Philipp Harsd\u00f6rffer, a seventeenth-century literary figure, adapted Italian carving manuals for his learned German audience, among many other projects. These images introduce a subsection on the carving of fruit. Shown on top, a dais of solid rectangular blocks anchors a stout column draped with swags of skillfully carved fruits. Atop the column rest carving tools, a book, and two matched pairs of apples and pears. The meaning of this puzzling illustration is revealed by a rhyming verse on the following page: the knife is there to slice the fruit, not the hand nor the truth, since lies should melt into the air without effect and would not therefore need a knife. Several pages of introductory text follow, in which the author gives credit to \u201cMathematischer Wissenschaften\u201d (mathematical sciences) as the wellspring of knowledge on how to slice and present fruits. <\/span>Displayed below, a page from this section of the book demonstrates \u201cthe way to carve stars and figures of fruits,\u201d inscribing geometric forms onto the abstracted fruit.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Illustration<\/a><\/span><\/div>
\"Illustration<\/a><\/span><\/div>

Above Top: <\/span>Georg Philipp Harsd\u00f6rffer, \u201cAnhang zu dem Andern theil, von fr\u00fcchten schneiden,\u201d em>Vollst\u00e4ndiges und von neuem vermehrtes Trincir-Buch . . . (Nuremberg: Paul F\u00fcrst, 1665). Engraving. Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University, New York, B641 H25. \/\u00a0<\/span> Bottom: <\/span>Georg Philipp Harsd\u00f6rffer, \u201cArth und weis sternen und figuren in fr\u00fcchte zuschneiden,\u201d Vollst\u00e4ndiges und von neuem vermehrtes Trincir-Buch<\/em> . . . (Nuremberg: Paul F\u00fcrst, 1665). Engraving. Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University, New York, B641 H25.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Mattia Giegher was a Bavarian carver who worked for the German community at the law school of the University of Padua, according to his own preface. Giegher\u2019s carving manual, the first to be profusely illustrated, contains a number of engravings that suggest how to serve fruit as well as meats, fish, and fowl. Here, the skin of the oranges has been skillfully peeled back, leaving flourishes and curlicues of flesh, partially revealing the underlying pith to create a color contrast.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

\"A<\/a><\/span><\/div>

Above: <\/span>Mattia Giegher, \u201cMelarance,\u201d from Li Tre Trattati .<\/em> . . , plate 24 (Padua: Paolo Frambotto, 1639). Engraving. The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Mattia Giegher was a Bavarian carver who worked for the German community at the law school of the University of Padua, according to his own preface. Giegher\u2019s carving manual, the first to be profusely illustrated, contains a number of engravings that suggest how to serve fruit as well as meats, fish, and fowl. Here, the skin of the oranges has been skillfully peeled back, leaving flourishes and curlicues of flesh, partially revealing the underlying pith to create a color contrast.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Left: <\/span>Mattia Giegher, \u201cMelarance,\u201d from Li Tre Trattati<\/em> . . . , plate 24 (Padua: Paolo Frambotto, 1639). Engraving. The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

L\u2019Art de trancher<\/span><\/i> is undated and contains only engraved images, without text other than the title page. The frontispiece, variations of which appear in other French manuals, displays the hands of the carver demonstrating the Italian method of carving with a small larded bird held on a fork by the left hand and a knife at the ready in the right. His wrists are framed by cuffs of pleated linen trimmed with lace. In the upper-left corner, a pierced sphere with a crown of fleurs-de-lis hints at another skill covered in the books: it is a finished version of one of the geometrically sliced fruits, depicted in both cross section and frontal view in the book, shown below.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

L\u2019Art de trancher<\/span><\/i> is undated and contains only engraved images, without text other than the title page. The frontispiece, variations of which appear in other French manuals, displays the hands of the carver demonstrating the Italian method of carving with a small larded bird held on a fork by the left hand and a knife at the ready in the right. His wrists are framed by cuffs of pleated linen trimmed with lace. In the upper-left corner, a pierced sphere with a crown of fleurs-de-lis hints at another skill covered in the books: it is a finished version of one of the geometrically sliced fruits, depicted in both cross section and frontal view in the book, shown below.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/a><\/div><\/div>

Listen to reflections from food historian Ivan Day.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"An<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"An<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"An<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/a><\/div><\/div>

Listen to reflections from food historian Ivan Day.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Left \/ Above: <\/span>Pierre Petit, frontispiece, from L\u2019Art de trancher<\/em> . . . (Lyon?, 1647?). Engraving. Special Collections, Regenstein Library, University of Chicago, TX885.P480 1600z c.1.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Above: <\/span>Pierre Petit, Frontispiece, from L\u2019Art de trancher . . . (Lyon?, 1647?). Engraving. Special Collections, Regenstein Library, University of Chicago, TX885.P480 1600z c.1.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Fruits, like flesh and fowl, might be sliced in real time in front of the diners. In this late seventeenth-century treatise, \u201cThe Modern Steward or the Art of Preparing Banquets Well,\u201d the fruits are labeled with letters that correspond to a legend inserted into a cartouche at the bottom of the page. The fruit labeled \u201cI\u201d depicts \u201cthe last cut that one gives for fruit that is carved \u2018in aria.\u2019\u201d According to another treatise, the fruit must be sliced quickly without falling from the fork, with the hands barely touching it, making the carver more like a \u201cgiocatore di mano\u201d (conjurer) than a carver. With their spiraling peels, these fruits are reminiscent of Dutch still life paintings in which twisting rinds dangle from gleaming platters, symbols of the inexorable passage of time.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Right: <\/span>Antonio Latini (author) \/ Francisco De Grado (engraver), Fruits, from Lo Scalco alla Moderna<\/em> (Naples: Domenico Antonio Parrino and Michele Luigi Mutti, 1694). Engraving. The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Fruits, like flesh and fowl, might be sliced in real time in front of the diners. In this late seventeenth-century treatise, \u201cThe Modern Steward or the Art of Preparing Banquets Well,\u201d the fruits are labeled with letters that correspond to a legend inserted into a cartouche at the bottom of the page. The fruit labeled \u201cI\u201d depicts \u201cthe last cut that one gives for fruit that is carved \u2018in aria.\u2019\u201d According to another treatise, the fruit must be sliced quickly without falling from the fork, with the hands barely touching it, making the carver more like a \u201cgiocatore di mano\u201d (conjurer) than a carver. With their spiraling peels, these fruits are reminiscent of Dutch still life paintings in which twisting rinds dangle from gleaming platters, symbols of the inexorable passage of time.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

\"An<\/a><\/span><\/div>

Above: <\/span>Antonio Latini (author) \/ Francisco De Grado (engraver), Fruits, from Lo Scalco alla Moderna<\/em> (Naples: Domenico Antonio Parrino and Michele Luigi Mutti, 1694). Engraving. The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"section<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

*Carvers in the Kitchen* <\/strong><\/span>This engraving from Bartolomeo Scappi\u2019s Opera<\/em> depicts a carver in a kitchen holding a piece of meat with a large, two-tined fork in his left hand, carving it with his right. The caption reads, \u201csmembratione\u201d (dismembering or carving), echoing the caption on one of the knives in Giovanni Francesco Colle\u2019s treatise on view on the landing. Though Scappi\u2019s book does not contain a chapter devoted to carving, this is the earliest representation of carving on the fork. Once the flesh was deposited into the charger waiting below, the remains might have been pressed in the machine to the left in order to release the remaining juices. A reproduction of the same page from a unique hand-colored copy is shown alongside below.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

\"A<\/a><\/span><\/div>

Above: <\/span>Bartolomeo Scappi, \u201cVettine,\u201d from Opera<\/em> . . . , plate 12 (Venice: Michele Tramezzino, 1570). Hand-colored engraving. Nieders\u00e4chsische Staats- und Universit\u00e4tsbibliothek G\u00f6ttingen, Manuscripts and Rare Prints \/ University Archives 8 OEC I, 3660 RARA.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"A<\/a><\/span><\/div>

Above: <\/span>Bartolomeo Scappi, \u201cVettine,\u201d from Dell arte de cvcinare<\/em>, plate 12 (Venice: Combi, 1643). Engraving. Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library, *KB 1643 (Scappi, B. M. Bortolomeo [sic] Scappi dell arte del cvcinare) c.2.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Left: <\/span>Bartolomeo Scappi, \u201cVettine,\u201d from Opera<\/em> . . . , plate 12 (Venice: Michele Tramezzino, 1570). Hand-colored engraving. Nieders\u00e4chsische Staats- und Universit\u00e4tsbibliothek G\u00f6ttingen, Manuscripts and Rare Prints \/ University Archives 8 OEC I, 3660 RARA. \/ <\/span>Right: <\/span>Bartolomeo Scappi, \u201cVettine,\u201d from Dell arte de cvcinare<\/em>, plate 12 (Venice: Combi, 1643). Engraving. Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library, *KB 1643 (Scappi, B. M. Bortolomeo [sic] Scappi dell arte del cvcinare) c.2.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

This early seventeenth-century edition of Bartolomeo Scappi\u2019s Opera<\/em> is bound together with Vincenzo Cervio\u2019s Il Trinciante<\/em>. The printer\u2019s device that appeared on earlier editions is replaced with this more marketable title page, giving potential buyers a taste of the book\u2019s contents. The right-hand panel depicts a kitchen with an elaborate clockwork rotisserie on which three spits turn, laden with roasting viands. In the left panel, a carver stands before a table laid for a meal. Demonstrating his skill, he proffers a bird on a fork in aria with his left hand, holding a knife in his right, as instructed in the manuals. The bundling of texts addressing various aspects of food service seems to have been a successful strategy among publishers of manuals or handbooks for both Italian and German markets.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

\"A<\/a><\/span><\/div>

Above \/ Right: <\/span>Bartolomeo Scappi, title page with detail, from Opera<\/em> . . . (Venice: Alessandro Vecchi, 1610). Woodcut. Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library, *KB 1610.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

This early seventeenth-century edition of Bartolomeo Scappi\u2019s Opera<\/em> is bound together with Vincenzo Cervio\u2019s Il Trinciante<\/em>. The printer\u2019s device that appeared on earlier editions is replaced with this more marketable title page, giving potential buyers a taste of the book\u2019s contents. The right-hand panel depicts a kitchen with an elaborate clockwork rotisserie on which three spits turn, laden with roasting viands. In the left panel, a carver stands before a table laid for a meal. Demonstrating his skill, he proffers a bird on a fork in aria with his left hand, holding a knife in his right, as instructed in the manuals. The bundling of texts addressing various aspects of food service seems to have been a successful strategy among publishers of manuals or handbooks for both Italian and German markets.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Detail<\/a><\/span><\/div>

Above: <\/span>Bartolomeo Scappi, title page with detail, from Opera<\/em> . . . (Venice: Alessandro Vecchi, 1610). Woodcut. Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library, *KB 1610.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-themehome"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.bgc.bard.edu\/stagingthetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.bgc.bard.edu\/stagingthetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.bgc.bard.edu\/stagingthetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.bgc.bard.edu\/stagingthetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.bgc.bard.edu\/stagingthetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3028"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.bgc.bard.edu\/stagingthetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5829,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.bgc.bard.edu\/stagingthetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3028\/revisions\/5829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.bgc.bard.edu\/stagingthetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.bgc.bard.edu\/stagingthetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.bgc.bard.edu\/stagingthetable\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}