Mrs Beeton

Mrs Beeton

Published in 1861, Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management was a guide to all aspects of running a household in Victorian Britain and was an immediate bestseller, running to millions of copies within just a few years. Its author Isabella Beeton was just 21 years old when she started working on the book, and she died young at 28. The book’s 2751 entries include tips on how to deal with servants’ pay and children’s health, and above all a wealth of cooking advice, instructions and recipes. It was written to pass on many rural cooking skills which had been lost during the Industrial Revolution. Its entries have little practical relevance today but give a charming and historically significant insight into Victorian domestic management. The name "Mrs Beeton" still has iconic status in Britain: most people recognize it and know its connotations, although very few have actually come into contact with the book itself.

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