Eighteenth century true crime! The first volume in the Old Regime Police Blotter series presents cases of homicide, suicide, rape and prostitution, primarily from contemporary records.

Human drama, heartbreak and even nobility burst from many of these true life tales, filled with details of daily life and insights into a former time - not so different, in many ways, from our own!

Have you ever wanted to make an eighteenth century meal? This book, starting with a menu from a classic French cookbook, tells you how. Even if you don't have a house full of servants and a kitchen with numerous hearths, you'll find enough original French eighteenth century recipes - newly translated - here to entertain a number of guests in true eithenth century style.

This collection includes recipes for game, veal, beef, chicken and various sauces, salads and other tasty items, worth making on their own or as part of a full, elegant period meal.

The first mistake the French royal authorities made was arresting the fiery journalist Henry Linguet; the second was letting him go - to write a book that some say brought down the Bastille. The book was an immediate hit, and stirred up feelings against the grim, mysterious castle which once dominated the east view of Paris. The day its destruction began - July 14 - was also Linguet's birthday, a "present" which must have made him rejoice.

This re-issue of a contemporary translation (the book was a bestseller in England) is heavily annotated and includes a portrait of Linguet, two different views of the Bastille, showing the names of the different towers, as well as a description of the castle's layout, a sample entry form, and accounts of the food in the Bastille (which wasn't half bad).

Edgar Allan Poe, graphologist? Edgar Allan Poe, critic? Yes to both. In addition to his many reviews, in 1841, while working at Graham's Magazine, he published analyses of autographs from numerous literary figures of his age. Published as "A Chapter on Autography", this work is freqently mentioned in books on graphology. But Poe's remarks are as literary as they are graphological, and his choice of subjects provides a concise overview of the literary figures of his period.

This new edition of Poe's work -

Edgar Allan Poe Analyzes Handwriting:
A Chapter On Autography

- includes introductory notes and a Biographical Dictionary to Poe's Subjects, offering students of 19th century American literature a wealth of information on figures of the period and students of Poe intriguing glimpses of his literary values. Graphologists will find here not only Poe's comments on characteristics of the handwriting, but a valuable collection of signatures.

Yes, the French kings really did eat peacocks - and swans, and herons, and blackbirds too. Taillevent, the cook who served two of them, not only cooked these dishes, but left a book on how to do it. He called it Le Viandier. In this new translation, it's called:

·         For recreational medievalists

·         For lovers of culinary history

·         For students of medieval life

·         For adventurous cooks