WHISTLERS MOTHERS COOK BOOK

American painter James McNeill Whistler probably never expected the portrait of his mother that graces the cover of this book to become a cultural icon. Begun on a whim when another model failed to show up for a session, the painting, familiarly known simply as "Whistler’s Mother," has become one of the best known and most beloved in the world and now hangs in the Musee d’Orsay in Paris. Nor, we can be sure, did Anna McNeill Whistler expect that her "cook book" would one day be published and thereby enjoyed by myriad readers beyond her own family. Irreverently referred to by her son as her "Bible," the manuscript book was kept faithfully by Mrs. Whistler of many years and contained recipes for such varied and delectable dishes as bread-and-butter pudding, "oisters," "mackroons," "whigs," quince marmalade, and pickled walnuts. Bequeathed by Whistler’s sister-in-law, along with other books and letters from his estate, to the University of Glasgow, the manuscript has been edited for...