Transcriber’s Note Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. A list of these changes is found at the end of the text. Inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been maintained. A list of inconsistently spelled and hyphenated words is found at the end of the text. [i] [i] [ii] [ii] We may live without poetry, music, and art; We may live without conscience and live without heart; We may live without friends; we may live without books; But civilized man cannot live without cooks. He may live without books—what is knowledge but grieving? He may live without hope—what is hope but deceiving? He may live without love—what is passion but pining? But where is the man who can live without dining? Owen Meredith’s “Lucile.” We Owen Meredith’s “Lucile.” [iii] [iii] A POETICAL COOK-BOOK. BY “I request you will prepare To your own taste the bill of fare; At present, if to judge I’m able, The finest works are of the table. I should prefer the cook just now To Rubens or to Gerard Dow.” I request PHILADELPHIA: CAXTON PRESS OF C. SHERMAN, SON & CO. 1864. [iv] [iv] Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, BY MARIA J. MOSS, In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.