GRIMOD DE LA REYNIÈRE, Alexandre Balthazar Laurent.

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Le journal des gourmands et des belles, An attractive gathering of the first five years of the influential monthly journal Le journal des gourmands, initially released in January 1806 and renamed in January 1808 as L'Épicurien français ou les Dîners du Caveau moderne. Extensive runs of this work are uncommon, especially so in contemporary bindings as here.The journal's founder, Grimod de la Reynière, was "the first gastronomic journalist, known before the Revolution for outrageous culinary extravagances, and was the author of several pioneering gastronomic works during a transitional period for French society" (Garval, p. 51). While French cuisine was already renowned for its refinement its finest practitioners had been tightly bound to the aristocratic households they served until this period. Grimod lead the charge in democratising this culinary knowledge through his extensive publication of tips, recipes, and menus and "was the first to grasp and begin to exploit its vast potential, inventing a role for himself as an intermediary between the swelling ranks of bourgeois consumers" and the burgeoning industry of food shops, wine merchants and most importantly, restaurants (ibid., p. 52). The authoritative editorial committee for the journal, made up of members of the prestigious culinary and musical society La société épicurienne, met each month at the Rocher de Cancale restaurant to ruminate on the gastronomy of the day, often hosting presidents of similar national and inte

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