first edition
1916 · Coventry, Conn
by [Conventry Grange, No. 75 (Coventry, Conn.); Ladies of the Grange]
Coventry, Conn: [The Grange], 1916. Small octavo (17.5 x 12 cm.), 31 pages. "Index" is actually a table of contents. Evident FIRST EDITION. A fair-related cookbook with one hundred fifty attributed recipes. Entries meriting a look: Rye Muffins, Brambles, Summer Squash Pie, Elderberry Pie, Apple Sweet Pickles, Beet Jelly. ~ Coventry nestles near the banks of Lake Wangumbang, in the north-central county of Tolland, some forty miles due east of Willimantic. ~ After some prompting from the Master of the State Patrons of Husbandry (the "P. of H." of the title page), a group of Coventry's citizens purchased a lecture hall from the Ecclesiastical Society in 1890 to serve as the home of Grange No. 75. Many surnames (Loomis, Kingsbury, Pomeroy) of the founding membership rolls are reflected in the ascriptions appended to recipes in the Coventry Grange Cook Book - that of Cottage Pudding to Mrs. William C. (Lucy) Haven, for instance, whose husband was a physician and state senator, and who served several terms as Worthy Master and Overseer of the Grange. As of the present writing, members of No. 75 continue to meet on the first and third Thursdays of every month at Coventry Grange Hall, on State Route 44. ~ Several pages spot-stained; short, closed tear to fore edge of a few leaves. In tan wrappers, titled in black, with the P. of H. insignia, and the word, "ASS'N" ink-stamped to front wrapper, completing the phrase "Coventry Grange Fair Ass'n". A few annotations in pencil. Near very good. Unrecorded. [OCLC locates no copies; in neither Brown nor Cagle]. (Inventory #: 5579)