Or, to give it it’s full and proper name:

“The Book of Household Management Comprising information for the Mistress, Housekeeper, Cook, Kitchen-Maid, Butler, Footman, Coachman, Valet, Upper and Under House-Maids, Lady’s-Maid, Maid-of-all-Work, Laundry-Maid, Nurse and Nurse-Maid, Monthly Wet and Sick Nurses, etc. etc. – also Sanitary, Medical, & Legal Memoranda: with a History of the Origin, Properties, and Uses of all Things Connected with Home Life and Comfort.”

Mrs Beeton is a legend, it must be said – the most famous cookery writer in British history and the guide for so many on the day to day living of a proper middleclass Gentlewoman of the Victorian times. While most of her book is devoted to recipes, she also gives advice on the proper way to invite guests to dinner parties, what kind of soil is best when moving home and the ettiquette of having to dance with someone you’d rather not, at a party.

I’d been looking for Victorian recipies when I found Mrs Beeton’s complete book available to read online – and I’m very glad that I did. Now, I shall never be stuck for how to behave when taking children to visit close friends (unless they are very well trained children, you should leave them in the carriage or cab outside), or that children require more oxygen than adults and you should keep them away from the mephtic gas one emits from the skin at night! Thank you, Mrs Beeton, I do not know what I would have done without you.

(Please note, that some of what Mrs Beeton suggests, is delightfully old fashioned and in some places, almost comedic with it’s inappropriateness to modern days – visiting the poor and giving them tips on cleanliness, for one.)