"The New York Times Menu Cookbook" by Craig Clairborne, drawings by Bill Goldsmith; published by Harper & Row, New York, 1969, first edition with Harper's printing code "L-T" [November-1969]

Hard boards, original green cloth with gold lettering and decorations on spine [shelf wear, cloth wear: see photos]; 6.1/2" x 9.1/2"; pale green endpapers, 729 pages including Index, c. 10 pages have short notes to recipes, some pages have small stains [see photos], good / very good condition.

"The companion volume to that perennial favorite The New York Times Cookbook, Craig Claiborne's new book is all new from start to finish. All the recipes (and there are more than 1,200) are new, and there are more than 400 tempting and exciting menus."

Craig Claiborne (1920-2000) was one of the three best-known food writers in America during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s during his tenure at the New York Times, the others being Julia Child and James Beard. He legitimized the field of restaurant criticism by maintaining a discreet, anonymous profile in visiting a restaurant and paying his own check. He would evaluate the restaurant’s food, ambience, and service, giving a rating between zero and four stars. Previously, it was common for reviewers to be paid by the very restaurants they were critiquing. Claiborne's ample knowledge of gastronomy commanded respect by restaurateurs who used his reviews to improve themselves.

He popularized the cuisines of China, Vietnamese, Indian, Brazilian, and a dozen more by having experts raised in the particular traditions to come to his house and cook where he would take meticulous notes, than write about them in the New York Times.

His first and most popular book, The New York Times Cookbook, sold over three million copies and was eventually translated into seventeen languages.

US: Priority (c.2-4 days) --------$12.50
Canada: Priority (c.2-6 weeks) - $32.50
World: Priority (c.2-8 weeks) --- $48.50