Customer Reviews

Roberts' Guide for Butlers & Household St

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Do you know how to clean plate and silver wear? How to set up the dining room table? Make sure the tea set is ready for the mistress of the house? Which hard coal is the best one to use? How to prepare fish, fowl or mammals to be carved? How to make the best beer, lemonade and cooling cinnamon water?

Well, this book is the answer to your dreams.

Just don't use quick silver.

I worked at Gore Place as an intern in college, where Robert Roberts worked. Many don't realize that this is often credited as the first book published in the US by an African-American. Insight into the labors of a butler in the early republic, of interest to those who are curious about lives of Af-Ams of the era, even though his race is never mentioned in the book.

I bought this book both as a training guide for my own servants and as a bit of historical research into butlers. Published in 1827 originally this book is a look into the lives of an upper class American family through the eyes of their butler. He covers everything you can image from claening to serving meals to appropriate dress to a philosophical discussion of the roles of servant and employers.

My loving niece gave me this wonderful book for the holidays. It pleases me is so many different ways: it was originally published in 1827, they retained what appears to be the original typeface, the instructions and guides within offer a delightful insight into the duties of a domestic just before the turn of the century. Many of the tasks have, of course, fallen into disuse and are only interesting from a historical perspective, but I am surprised at how many remain useful. I suppose good housekeeping has not changed as much as I might have thought.

There are also included a number of interesting recipes that I am dying to try out - spruce beer, ginger beer, a most excellent sounding punch (with dark rum,) and several more.

This book is wonderful for curling up at the end of a long day and imagining, just for a while, that you are in charge of a manor house somewhere outside of New York, and well satisfied with the fruit of your labours.

You don't have to be a butler, household manager, or a member of somebody's private household staff to find something useful in this book. There's something for anybody who is interested in taking care of their home. Jeeves would most highly approve, I think.

Alright, the simplest explanation about this item is that it does give practical advice; however, most of it pertains to life some 50 years ago. Before the invention of contemporary cleaning products, devices, &c.

However I still find it an interesting read because it is a subject of great interest to me and I did learn quite a bit from it.

Buy it on the cheap and read the portions of it that is to your liking and the rest at your leisure.