Cakes & Ale, A Dissertation on Banquets Interspersed with Various Recipes, More or Less Original, and anecdotes, mainly veracious: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Cakes & Ale, A Dissertation on Banquets Interspersed with Various Recipes, More or Less Original, and anecdotes, mainly veracious, credited to Edward Spencer, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Cakes & Ale, A Dissertation on Banquets Interspersed with Various Recipes, More or Less Original, and anecdotes, mainly veracious by Edward Spencer. Read in English by LibriVox Volunteers. A long time ago, an estimable lady fell at the feet of an habitual publisher, and prayed unto him:— “Give, oh! give me the subject of a book for which the world has a need, and I will write it for you.” “Are you an author, madam?” asked the publisher, motioning his visitor to a seat. “No, sir,” was the proud reply, “I am a poet.” “Ah!” said the great man. “I am afraid there is no immediate worldly need of a poet. If you could only write a good cookery book, now! ... What I want,” said the publisher, “is a series of essays on food, a few anecdotes of stirring adventure—you have a fine flow of imagination, I understand—and a few useful, but uncommon recipes. But plenty of plums in the book, my dear sir, plenty of plums.” “But, suppose my own supply of plums should not hold out, what am I to do?” “What do you do—what does the cook do, when the plums for her pudding run short? Get some more; the Museum, my dear sir, the great storehouse of national literature, is free to all whose character is above the normal standard. When your memory and imagination fail, try the British Museum. You know what is a mightier factor than both sword and pen? Precisely so. And remember that in replenishing your store from the works of those who have gone before, you are only following in their footsteps. I only bar Sydney Smith and Charles Lamb. Let me have the script by Christmas—d’you smoke?—mind the step—good morning.” In this way, gentle reader, were the trenches dug, the saps laid for the attack of the great work. (from the Preface)

Recording facts

• Recording title: Cakes & Ale, A Dissertation on Banquets Interspersed with Various Recipes, More or Less Original, and anecdotes, mainly veracious
• Author credits: Edward Spencer
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 23
• Listed recording duration: 7:02:00

Track guide

1. 00 - Preface — 8:08
2. 01 - Breakfast — 13:26
3. 02 - Breakfast (continued) — 17:21
4. 03 - Breakfast (continuted) — 17:56
5. 04 - Luncheon — 15:08
6. 05 - Luncheon (continued) — 23:18
7. 06 - Dinner — 22:01
8. 07 - Dinner (continued) — 14:10
9. 08 - Dinner (continued) — 22:19
10. 09 - Dinner (continued) — 21:24
11. 10 - Vegetables — 18:40
12. 11 - Vegatables (continued) — 15:20
13. 12 - Curries — 20:51
14. 13 - Salads — 16:15
15. 14 - Salads and Condiments — 16:59
16. 15 - Supper — 14:36
17. 16 - Supper (continued) — 15:02
18. 17 - ''Camping Out'' — 22:22
19. 18 - Compound Drinks — 21:35
20. 19 - Cups and Cordials — 18:56
21. 20 - The Daylight Drink — 22:14
22. 21 - Gastronomy in Fiction and Drama — 22:14
23. 22 - Restoratives — 21:43

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This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.