Vincent La Chapelle

Abstract

In their article in PPC 2, Philip and Mary Hyman showed that Vincent La Chapelle, despite his denials, had borrowed numerous recipes from the earlier French writer, Massialot. Details were given which demonstrated that the first edition of La Chapelle's The Modern Cook, published in 1733 and comprising 1476 recipes, included no fewer than 383 which had been lifted straight from Massialot (whose 1730 edition was used for the purpose of the comparison). However, they went on to show that in his later editions La Chapelle relied less heavily on material taken from Massialot; and that his third and last edition (1742) demonstrated in a striking way La Chapelle's increasing independence from Massialot. The additional fifth volume which was added for this 1742 edition appears to contain nothing taken from Massialot, and includes many interesting recipes which were being published in French for the first time.