1) [GOURMET]. The Gourmet Cookbook. New York: Gourmet, Inc., 1959. 2 volumes. FIRST EDITION, eleventh printing.

2) BECK, Simone, Louisette BERTHOLLE, and Julia CHILD. Mastering the Art of French Cooking. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1961. (Lacking dust jacket.) Provenance: gift inscription from Saga: “Love & Happy Cooking From, Saga Feb. 28.62.” FIRST EDITION.

3) [BETTER HOMES & GARDENS]. New Cook Book. N.p.: Meredith Publishing Company, 1965. Revised “Souvenir edition,” sixth printing. With various clippings of recipes.

4) POST, Elizabeth L. Emily Post's Etiquette a Guide to Modern Manners. New York et al: Harper & Row, 1984. Fourteenth edition.

Together, 4 works in 5 volumes, all in original bindings (condition generally good).

Presumably aided by these culinary resources and Post’s classic work of manners and morals, Secretary Albright was known for her hospitality and frequently hosted politicians and foreign-policy experts at her home in Georgetown since the 1980s. Her gatherings included monthly dinner parties beginning in 1984 to discuss ideas over food: “Later people would say I had hosted “salons” in my “elegant” Georgetown house. The truth is my house is comfortable, not elegant, and my dinners were simple buffet affairs--salad, roll, and a slice of something.” Albright had more intimate gatherings where she hosted then-President Bill Clinton, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as well as former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and George Schultz.

Provenance for the lot: Secretary Madeleine K. Albright, each with bookplate.