Venus in the Kitchen or Love’s Cookery Book

6b Pilaff Bey; Norman Douglas and Giuseppe Orioli. Edited by Norman Douglas. Intro by Graham Greene. Decorated by Bruce Robert’s with frontispiece by D. H. Lawrence. London: William Heinemann, 1552. First Edition 

Notes

Venus in the Kitchen is an eccentric and delightfully provocative collection of historical recipes believed to possess aphrodisiac properties. Compiled under the pseudonym Pilaff Bey by Norman Douglas and Giuseppe Orioli, the book blends culinary history, folklore, humor, and the age-old fascination with food as an instrument of romance and seduction. Its unusual recipes range from oysters and elaborate seafood dishes to more adventurous preparations involving animal organs and exotic ingredients. Published posthumously following Douglas's death, the volume features an introduction by celebrated novelist Graham Greene and charming decorative illustrations by Bruce Roberts. Douglas, best known for his novel South Wind (1917), was a distinguished travel writer and literary personality, while Orioli was an influential bookseller and publisher remembered for producing the first unexpurgated edition of D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover in 1928. Both scholarly and mischievous in tone, Venus in the Kitchen remains a fascinating curiosity in twentieth-century culinary literature, reflecting the intersection of gastronomy, sensuality, and literary wit. 

Description 

Rust red canvas binding with black lettering to spine and small Cupid illustration to lower right hand corner. Original pink and green pictorial dust jacket in excellent condition. Evocative frontispiece illustration by D. H. Lawrence and other black and white line illustrations to introduce each new section. Fine condition.