A COOK AND A POET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20264, 25 May 1929, Page 8 (Supplement)

A COOK AND A POET.

AUTHOR OF " MRS. BEETON."

This vear saw the 130 th anniversary of tho birth of Eliza Acton, who was the " Mrs. Beeton " of Early Victorian England. The writ-inn of a cookery book, according to the London Observer, was not her original aim in life, and the story of the circumstances which led her to this task is not unromantic —contains, indeed, a message of encouragement to all who desire to earn their living by their I ,(M| . t In the early " forties of tho last century, having achieved a certain amount of fame with several volumes of poems published by subscription, it is said Eliza Acton submitted a. volume to Messrs. Longman in the hope that the publishers would undertake the responsibility. She met with the unexpected reply: "Poetry, madam, is a drug in tho market; it' it wore a cookery book, now "

Nothing daunted, Eliza Acton sot to work. The book was a triumph. It ousted Mrs. Rundell and Dr. Kitchener, and filled a niche in the housewife's shelf unsupplied by Sayer and Francatelli Rome years later sho brought, out " The English Bread Book," which was also a success. "From Sonnets to Sauces" might be as inspiring a title for a hioeraphy as " From Log Cabin to While House."