Eggs: Facts and Fancies About Them

Eggs: Facts and Fancies About Them
by Anna Barrows
Adopted for Conservation by
William F. Long and Laura Brouse-Long
on November 16, 2016
Blue cover of Eggs: facts and fancies about them with drawings of people and flowers; short title "Eggs" is in gold lettering.

Eggs: facts and fancies about them

By Anna Barrows. Boston: D. Lothrop Company, 1890.

Anna Barrows, a pioneer in home economics education, compiled this small book of recipes, superstitions and legends, medicinal uses, and other cultural associations of the egg.  Her goal was to promote the use and expand the production of eggs.  This little book is full of tidbits of information about the egg and its presence in human history: from tips on ways to use eggs in daily life - though maybe scientifically suspect these days (“The whole of a raw egg…rubbed into the hair occasionally to stimulate its growth and prevent falling off”), to the chemical properties of eggs used in manufacturing and the arts, to its prevalence in mythology and religion.  And, of course, there is also a nice chapter devoted to egg recipes.

Condition and Treatment: 

This book has Victorian era publishers' binding with a decorative front cover and gilt title on the spine. The frontispiece is detached and the textblock is split in the middle. The case is nearly detached from the textblock. Conservators will remove the textblock, reline the spine, and re-case the textblock in the repaired case.

Discover more about this book in our Catalog.

Adoption Type: Preserve for the Future