“Delightes for Ladies”

I love looking at the old “housekeeping hints” kinds of books…those which offer advice on cooking, cleaning, household remedies, beauty tips for ladies, etc. I found a wonderful one in the Rare Book Room the other day, Delightes for Ladies. It was a gift of the Reverend Samuel M. Lindsey, and is a reprint of a 1609 London publication originally written by Sir Hugh Plat. Plat was not only a writer of “household hints,” but is also credited with several inventions including a finger ring for gamblers with a reflecting disk for “seeing” the opponents cards, secret inks and a unique method of penmanship, and alphabet blocks…a fundamental in all children’s nurseries.
The book was fun to read, although a bit difficult, since the spelling was inconsistent and references within the “recipes” were often cryptic to me. As the introduction to the reprint notes:

…when Delightes for Ladies was printed our language was still in the developing stage. There were few fixed and firm rules. A word lent itself to more than one way of spelling and any might be correct, for at that time there was no consistency in spelling… The letters “u” and “v” were used interchangeably, and so were “u” and “w.”…. Capitals were used at random, no fixed rule governed them. Ofttimes where a word ended in “e,” a letter was dropped and sometimes an extra “e” was added.

The text included a section on Secrets in Distillation; Sweete Powders, Oyntments, Beauties, &c; The Arte of Preseruing; and Cookerie and Huswiferie. The reprint volume also included a glossary for those of us who aren’t as familiar with the terms used in 1609!
Take a look at some of the suggestions for making “prince-bisket,” for “skin kept white and cleere,” “to souse a young Pig,” and to “make true spirit of wine.” If you can’t get to the beautician and your hair color needs attention, you can also find directions on “how to colour the head or beard into a Chestnut colour in half an houre.” Of course this last set of directions assumes that you’ll be glad to put lead, sulphur and quicklime on your hair!