About the Book
Simple Italian Cookery [1912]
"Simple Italian Cookery" by Antonia Isola was published in 1912 by Harper & Brothers. It was the first Italian cookbook published in English in the United States. The Italian name of the author, "Antonia Isola," was a pseudonym, chosen by her publisher to help give her collection of Italian recipes credibility. The author's real name was Mabel Earl McGinnis. She was born in 1876 in the United States; as an adult she spent a lot of time in Italy, in particular, in and around the city of Rome. Despite the fact that she is credited as being the very first individual to put together a book of Italian recipes for the American public, she did not publish any other book after her successful debut. To view or download her entire cookbook, "Simple Italian Cookery," which is now in the public domain, visit www.archive.org. Many of the recipes can also be found on this website (See Italy Revisited/"XXX Italian Cookbook by Antonia Isola). Five other copyright-free Italian cookbooks can also be found at "www.archive.org" as well as on this website, "www.Italy Revisited.org." The list includes: "Italian Cooking" by Dorothy Daly (See Italy Revisited/XXX Italian Cookbook by Dorothy Daly), "Leaves from our Tuscan Kitchen," by Ann Janet Ross published in 1900 (See Italy Revisited/ "Italian Cookbooks in the Public Domain"), "Practical Italian Recipes for American Kitchens by Julia Lovejoy Cuniberti (1918), "Allied Cookery," by Harrison and Grace Clerque (1916) and "The Cook's Decameron" by W.G. Waters published in 1920 (See Italy Revisited/"XXX Italian Cookbook by WG
It's unlikely I can do all the recipes in all of the 6 cookbooks because that might take more than a couple of months, but more like a couple of lifetimes which I obviously don't have, but I will try to pick the ones that are the most interesting. I have to admit that so far of all the cookbook authors on www.archive.org's list, I found, Dorothy Daly's "Italian Cooking," by far the best(see Italy Revisited/"XXX Italian Cookbook by Dorothy Daly"). Her knowledge and love of the Italian way of life shines through in her lovely book. Strangely enough, not a single word about this author has been written [on line] that I am aware of - even Wikipedia does not have an entry for this trailblazer. Still the American-born, Antonia Isola, did introduce Americans to the art of Italian cuisine and for that she is rightfully admired.
About the Author
Antonia Isola
Author of Simple Italian Cookery, published by Harper and Brothers, February, 1912, and the first Italian cookbook to be published in the US. She had lived in Rome for some years, and was well-versed in Italian food, but the publishers chose the pseudonym to impart "authenticity" to the work.
