Elements of the Table: A Simple Guide for Hosts and Guests

Lynn Rosen, Author, Walter Rosen, Photographer, Patrick Snook, Photographer Clarkson N Potter Publishers $15.95 (128p) ISBN 978-0-307-33933-1
In her introduction to this slim dining etiquette reference, author Rosen (The Dinner Table) sets the tone: ""It is one thing to possess elegant tableware, it is quite another to know how to put it to proper use."" While she certainly covers basics like setting places and wrangling utensils, it's her passion for trivia that sets the book apart. Readers will learn that that the tradition of giving a gift spoon to an infant originated in the Middle Ages, that Cardinal Richelieu introduced the concept of the butter knife in 17th Century France (he found sharp knives to be threatening), and that the wife of President Grover Cleveland found it necessary to melt down Dolly Madison's silver to have it molded into a new design. Rounded out with a list of common dining mistakes and step-by-step instructions for a handful of different napkin folds, Rosen's primer on entertaining and dining with decorum is a welcome reference.
Reviewed on: 04/23/2007
Show other formats
FORMATS
Ebook - 128 pages - 978-0-307-48421-5
X
Stay ahead with
Tip Sheet!
Free newsletter: the hottest new books, features and more
X
Only $18.95/month for Digital Access
or $20.95 for Print+Digital Access!
X
Free newsletter: breaking news,
interviews, reviews, and more
Email Address

Password

Log In Lost Password

PW has integrated its print and digital subscriptions, offering exciting new benefits to subscribers, who are now entitled to both the print edition and the digital editions of PW (online or via our app). For instructions on how to set up your accout for digital access, click here. For more information, click here.

The part of the site you are trying to access is now available to subscribers only. Subscribers: to set up your digital subscription with the new system (if you have not done so already), click here. To subscribe, click here.

Email pw@pubservice.com with questions.

Not Registered? Click here.