Eliza Leslie (1787–1858), frequently referred to as Miss Leslie, was an American author of popular cookbooks during the nineteenth century. She also wrote household management books, etiquette books, novels, short stories and articles for magazines and newspapers.

Biography

Leslie was born on November 15, 1787, in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, to Lydia Baker and Robert Leslie, both originally from Maryland. Her father, a clock and watchmaker, was a friend of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

and

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

, according to Eliza. The family moved to England in 1793 when Leslie was five years old for about six years. She was the eldest of five children. Two of her siblings,

Charles Robert Leslie Charles Robert Leslie (19 October 1794 – 5 May 1859) was an English genre painter. Biography Leslie was born in London to American parents. When he was five years of age he returned with them to the United States, where they settled in Philad ...

, who lived in London, and Anna Leslie, were artists. Her brother Thomas Jefferson Leslie graduated from

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

and her other sister, Martha “Patty,” married the book publisher

Henry Charles Carey Henry Charles Carey (December 15, 1793 – October 13, 1879) was the leading 19th-century economist of the American School, and chief economic adviser to U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Carey is best known for the book ''The Harmony of Interest ...

. Wikisource:The Female Prose Writers of America: With Portraits, Biographical Notices, and Specimens of their Writings/Eliza Leslie/Autobiography Following Robert Leslie's death in 1803, Lydia Leslie operated a series of boarding houses in Philadelphia. The family moved from their home on High Street to a boarding house on South Sixth Street, then Spruce Street, and, finally, to 1 Minor for the last two years of Lydia's life before she died in 1824. Eliza Leslie attended the cooking school of the famed Mrs. Goodfellow for two terms, and her first book was based on notes she had taken of Goodfellow's class recipes, although in the introduction she insisted the recipes were "original, and have been used by the author and many of her friends with uniform success." ''Seventy-Five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats'' first published in 1828, became a success and went through eleven editions until 1839.

Career

Leslie's ''Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches'' (1837), sold at least 150,000 copies and stayed in print into the 1890s, making it the most popular cookbook of the century. It was a generalized work, written to appeal to all classes and to city or rural dwellers from all regions. Some of her nine cookbooks were more specialized. Using the French she learned as a child, Leslie translated French recipes for ''Domestic French Cookery'' (1832) and wrote an entire book on cornmeal recipes, ''The Indian Meal Book'' (1847). She was a prolific writer of fiction and nonfiction works for juveniles and adults. Almost yearly, between 1836 and 1845, Leslie edited an annual

gift book Gift books, literary annuals, or keepsakes were 19th-century books, often lavishly decorated, which collected essays, short fiction, and poetry. They were primarily published in the autumn, in time for the holiday season and were intended to be g ...

called ''The Gift: A Christmas and New Year’s Present'', with contributions from

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

(which included the first appearances of five short stories including "

The Pit and the Pendulum "The Pit and the Pendulum" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe and first published in 1842 in the literary annual ''The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1843''. The story is about the torments endured by a prisoner of ...

," "Manuscript in a Bottle," and "

The Purloined Letter "The Purloined Letter" is a short story by American author Edgar Allan Poe. It is the third of his three detective stories featuring the fictional C. Auguste Dupin, the other two being "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and " The Mystery of Marie Rog ...

"),

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

, and

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...

. She also contributed to ''

Godey's Lady's Book ''Godey's Lady's Book'', alternatively known as ''Godey's Magazine and Lady's Book'', was an American women's magazine that was published in Philadelphia from 1830 to 1878. It was the most widely circulated magazine in the period before the Civil ...

'', ''

Graham's Magazine ''Graham's Magazine'' was a nineteenth-century periodical based in Philadelphia established by George Rex Graham and published from 1840 to 1858. It was alternatively referred to as ''Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine'' (1841–1842, and J ...

'', ''Saturday Gazette'', and ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

''. Her 1842 story "The Beaux, A Sketch" has been suggested by Sarah Glosson as the earliest-known published derivative work based on

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

Project MUSE Project MUSE, a non-profit collaboration between libraries and publishers, is an online database of peer-reviewed academic journals and electronic books. Project MUSE contains digital humanities and social science content from over 250 university ...

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Publications

* ''Seventy-Five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats'' (1828) 1836. * ''American Girl's Book'', 1831. * ''Domestic French Cookery'', 1832. * ''Pencil Sketches; or, Outlines of Characters and Manners'', 1833. * ''Miss Leslie's Behavior Book'', 1834. * ''Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches'' (1837) 1844 * ''The Gift: A Christmas and New Year’s Present'' 1837, 1839–40, 1842-45 * ''Miss Leslie's Lady's New Receipt-Book'' (1840) 1850 * ''The Indian Meal Book'', 1847. * ''The Lady's Receipt-Book: A Useful Companion for Large or Small Families'', 1847. * ''Amelia; or, A Young Lady's Vicissitudes'', 1848. * ''Miss Leslie's Lady's New Receipt-Book'', 1850. * ''Miss Leslie's Directions for Cookery'', 1851. * ''More Receipts'', 1852. * ''Stories for Summer Days and Winter Nights'', 1853. * ''New Receipts for Cooking'' 1854 * ''New Cookery Book'', 1857

References

External links

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leslie, Eliza 1787 births 1858 deaths American food writers People from Gloucester City, New Jersey Writers from Philadelphia American cookbook writers American women non-fiction writers 19th-century American women writers