Help Save Marcus Apicius!

Most culinary historians know about the cookery manuscript attributed to Marcus Apicius, the first century Roman gourmand. Containing 500 recipes, the manuscript was assembled and hand copied in the fourth century. In the ninth century, monks at the Fulda monastery in Germany recopied the recipes in a simple manuscript adorned by red letters. This ninth century manuscript has amazingly survived through twelve hundred years of wars and natural disasters and is believed to be the earliest copy of Apicius, the only recipe collection we have from the ancient Mediterranean.

During the Reformation, the manuscript was shipped to the Vatican Library, which also owned another, slightly later, set of Apicius's recipes. The Vatican sold the Fulda manuscript to a private collector. The manuscript was sold at auction and eventually was given to the New York Academy of Medicine. The 1,200 year-old manuscript is falling apart and needs to be rebound. The New York Academy of Medicine approached a professional manuscript restorer; the estimated cost of rebinding is $15,000.

The Culinary Trust of the International Association of Culinary Professionals has taken on the task of raising the necessary funds and launching a public relations around the restoration and the importance of preserving our culinary heritage. All funds collected will go directly to restoration projects; all those who contribute will be invited to the restoration launch event, likely in the Fall of 2006.

Please send contributions to:

The Culinary Trust
304 W. Liberty Street, Suite 201
Louisville, KY 40202

I'd be delighted to answer any questions.

Andrew F. Smith
Culinary Historian
email: CLICK HERE