English journalist, publisher and writer (1836–1865)
Isabella Mary Beeton (néeMayson; 14 March 1836 – 6 February 1865), known as Mrs Beeton, was an English journalist, editor and writer. Her name is particularly associated with her first book, the 1861 work Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management. She was born in London and, after schooling in Islington, north London, and Heidelberg, Germany, she married Samuel Orchart Beeton, an ambitious publisher and magazine editor.
In 1857, less than a year after the wedding, Beeton began writing for one of her husband's publications, The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine. She translated French fiction and wrote the cookery column, though all the recipes were plagiarised from other works or sent in by the magazine's readers. In 1859 the Beetons launched a series of 48-page monthly supplements to The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine; the 24 instalments were published in one volume as Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management in October 1861, which sold 60,000 copies in the first year. Beeton was working on an abridged version of her book, which was to be titled The Dictionary of Every-Day Cookery, when she died of puerperal fever in February 1865 at the age of 28. She gave birth to four children, two of whom died in infancy, and had several miscarriages. Two of her biographers, Nancy Spain and Kathryn Hughes, posit the theory that Samuel had unknowingly contracted syphilis in a premarital liaison with a prostitute, and had unwittingly passed the disease on to his wife.
The Book of Household Management has been edited, revised and enlarged several times since Beeton's death and is still in print as at 2016. Food writers have stated that the subsequent editions of the work were far removed from and inferior to the original version. Several cookery writers, including Elizabeth David and Clarissa Dickson Wright, have criticised Beeton's work, particularly her use of other people's recipes. Others, such as the food writer Bee Wilson, consider the censure overstated, and that Beeton and her work should be thought extraordinary and admirable. Her name has become associated with knowledge and authority on Victorian cooking and home management, and the Oxford English Dictionary states that by 1891 the term Mrs Beeton had become used as a generic name for a domestic authority. She is also considered a strong influence in the building or shaping of a middle-class identity of the Victorian era.
Isabella Mary Beeton (née Mayson; 14 March 1836 – 6 February 1865), known as Mrs Beeton, was an English journalist, editor and writer. Her name is particularly...
Samuel Orchart Beeton (2 March 1831 – 6 June 1877) was an English publisher, best known as the husband of Mrs Beeton (Isabella Mary Mayson) and publisher...
invalid cookery section of the 1861 Book of Household Management by IsabellaBeeton, who adds, "This sandwich may be varied by adding a little pulled meat...
They did not, at that time, have a breadcrumb layer, although by 1861 IsabellaBeeton suggested this as an option. According to the Oxford Companion to Food...
Victorian times, where its use in meals is documented in IsabellaBeeton's famous cookery book Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management. In recent times, Whisky...
"pigeon in a hole", calling for pigeon rather than sausages. In 1861, IsabellaBeeton listed a similar recipe using rump steak and lamb's kidney, while Charles...
in two BBC TV films – as the title character in The Secret Life of Mrs Beeton, and in the original drama Aftersun – and the high-profile ITV drama The...
and presented a social history documentary about the Victorian cook IsabellaBeeton, which was transmitted on BBC 2 on 29 September 2011. Dahl was a contributing...
Prize for biography, and her 2005 biography of IsabellaBeeton, The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beeton was also well-received, and made the long list...
rollo de fresa (strawberry roll). IsabellaBeeton included a recipe for her version of "Tipsy Cake" in Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management where...
Absolute Press. ISBN 978-1-904573-85-2. Beeton, Isabella (1861). The Book of Household Management. London: S. O. Beeton. Hillman, Howard (1983). Great Peasant...
Families 1845) Charles Elmé Francatelli (The Modern Cook 1846) IsabellaBeeton (Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management 1861) Dishes Bubble and squeak...
during this time, and the full breakfast appeared in the best-selling IsabellaBeeton's Book of Household Management (1861). This new full breakfast was a...
facsimile. Acton's work was an important influence on IsabellaBeeton, who published Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management in 24 monthly parts between...
baby food. Food portal List of cheese dishes Recipe from A Book of Household Management by IsabellaBeeton Archived 2007-03-04 at the Wayback Machine...
Families 1845) Charles Elmé Francatelli (The Modern Cook 1846) IsabellaBeeton (Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management 1861) Dishes Bubble and squeak...
Families 1845) Charles Elmé Francatelli (The Modern Cook 1846) IsabellaBeeton (Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management 1861) Dishes Bubble and squeak...
original on November 12, 2020. A Propre new booke of Cokery, 1545 Mrs. IsabellaBeeton, The Book of Household Management, 1861, p. 657 § 1309 "The Poultry...
Families 1845) Charles Elmé Francatelli (The Modern Cook 1846) IsabellaBeeton (Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management 1861) Dishes Bubble and squeak...
Families 1845) Charles Elmé Francatelli (The Modern Cook 1846) IsabellaBeeton (Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management 1861) Dishes Bubble and squeak...
Families 1845) Charles Elmé Francatelli (The Modern Cook 1846) IsabellaBeeton (Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management 1861) Dishes Bubble and squeak...
horses. It is a saline aperient mixture used along with blue mass. IsabellaBeeton's Book of Household Management (1861) has a recipe for a black draught:...
January 2023 Beeton, p. 101 Cloake, Felicity. "How to cook the perfect Lancashire hotpot", The Guardian, 31 October 2013 Beeton, Isabella (1861). The Book...