COOKBOOK WATCH

One of the most difficult-to-find used cookbooks is the 1931 self-published edition of Irma Rombauer’s “The Joy of Cooking.” Just 3,000 copies were published in the first printing; it was subsequent editions from the Bobbs-Merrill Co. that ended up in nearly every American household. Last week, however, Scribner released a facsimile of the original ($25), which includes cheery comments from Rombauer throughout the text. On the cover is striking art by Rombauer’s daughter Marion, who went on to collaborate with her mother on the writing of subsequent editions. We are told that the illustration depicts St. Martha of Bethany, “the patron saint of cooking, slaying the dragon of kitchen drudgery.” Marion Rombauer’s silhouette cutouts illustrate the inside pages.