As a general rule, I do not believe in prefaces, but feel ing bound to submit to the time-honored custom, I am free to confess that, had I known the labor necessary to produce a first-class cookery book, I should hardly have had the resolution to commence it. However, I have done my utmost to make it useful and acceptable. The recipes have been most carefully compiled, and valuable assistance has been rendered me by friends in France, Germany, Great Britain and Canada, as well as in the United States, to all of Whom I render my most sincere thanks. I also desire to record my grateful appreciation of the immense success my cookery book has met with. The number of orders already received for it convinces me that I have supplied a real want, and that my book Will help my sisters to lighten their toil and gladden the hearts of their families.