Eating the Enlightenment : food and the sciences in Paris / E.C. Spary.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Spary, E. C. (Emma C.)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Diet--France--Paris--History--18th century.

Diet.

Gastronomy--France--Paris--History--18th century.

Gastronomy.

Nutrition--France--Paris--History--18th century.

Nutrition.

Enlightenment--France--Paris--History--18th century.

Enlightenment.

Paris (France)--Intellectual life--18th century.

Paris (France).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (380 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago ; London : University of Chicago Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Eating the Enlightenment offers a new perspective on the history of food, looking at writings about cuisine, diet, and food chemistry as a key to larger debates over the state of the nation in Old Regime France. Embracing a wide range of authors and scientific or medical practitioners-from physicians and poets to philosophes and playwrights-E. C. Spary demonstrates how public discussions of eating and drinking were used to articulate concerns about the state of civilization versus that of nature, about the effects of consumption upon the identities of individuals and nations, and about the proper form and practice of scholarship. En route, Spary devotes extensive attention to the manufacture, trade, and eating of foods, focusing upon coffee and liqueurs in particular, and also considers controversies over specific issues such as the chemistry of digestion and the nature of alcohol. Familiar figures such as Fontenelle, Diderot, and Rousseau appear alongside little-known individuals from the margins of the world of letters: the draughts-playing café owner Charles Manoury, the "Turkish envoy" Soliman Aga, and the natural philosopher Jacques Gautier d'Agoty. Equally entertaining and enlightening, Eating the Enlightenment will be an original contribution to discussions of the dissemination of knowledge and the nature of scientific authority.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Intestinal Struggles

2. From Curiosi to Consumers

3. The Place of Coffee

4. Distilling Learning

5. The Philosophical Palate

6. Rules of Regimen

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781283657532

1283657538

9780226768885

0226768880

OCLC:

841904706