Having Dinner with Robert Jocelyn

Posted on by July 3, 2018

I’ll have the Scollop of Oysters, hartychokes, cold lobster, and olive pudding!

Winterthur has in their collections the Dinner Book of Robert Jocelyn, First Viscount of Jocelyn and one time Lord Chancellor of Ireland. The book includes drawings of his daily dinner table, indicating where the dishes of food were placed, and dates from 1740-1751. It’s an incredible document for anyone interested in dining history and eighteenth century foodways. Visit the interactive digital feature at Winterthur’s website.

Dinner in August. From Robert Jocelyn’s Dinner Book. Folio 219. Winterthur Library.

 

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About Becky Fifield

Becky Fifield is a cultural heritage professional with 25 years experience in institutions large and small. She is currently Head of Collection Management for the Special Collections of the New York Public Library. An advocate for preventive conservation, Ms. Fifield is a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation, Chair of the AIC Collection Care Network, and former Chair of Alliance for Response NYC. She is also a scholar of 18th century female unfree labor and dress. There's a bit of pun in the title The Still Room, delineating a quiet space brimming with the ingredients of memory, where consideration, analysis, and wordcraft can take place. Ms. Fifield’s interests include museum practice, dress history, historic preservation, transit, social and women’s history, food, current events, geneaology, roadtrips, and considerations on general sense of place. Becky and her husband, Dr. V, live in the Hudson Valley.