e not
given a full vote of confidence to Lister.

Why should the mysterious C{oe}lius or Caelius, if such an author or
compiler of a tome on cookery existed affix the name of "Apicius" to
it? The reason would be commercial gain, prestige accruing from the
name of that cookery celebrity. Such business sense would not be
extraordinary. Modern cooks pursue the same method. Witness the
innumerable a la soandsos. Babies, apartment houses, streets, cities,
parks, dogs, race horses, soap, cheese, herring, cigars, hair
restorers are thus named today. "Apicius" on the front page of any
ancient cookery book would be perfectly consistent with the ancient
spirit of advertising. It has been stated, too, that C{oe}lius had
more than one collaborator. Neither can this be proven.

The copyists have made many changes throughout the original text.
Misspelling of terms, ignorance of cookery have done much to obscure
the meaning. The scribes of the middle ages had much difficulty in
this respect since medieval Latin is different from Apician language.

The very language of the original is proof for its authenticity. The
desire of Torinus to interpret to his medieval readers the ancient
text is pardonable. How much or how little he succeeded is attested to
by some of his contemporary readers, former owners of our copies.
Scholars plainly confess inability to decipher Apicius by groans
inscribed on the fly leaves and title pages in Latin, French and other
languages. One French scholar of the 16th century, apparently "kidded"
for studying an undecipherable cook book, stoically inscribes the
title page of our Lyon, 1541, copy with: "This amuses me. Why make fun
of me?" This sort of message, reaching us out of the dim past of
bygone centuries is among the most touching reading we have done, and
has urged us on with the good though laborious and unprofitable work.

Notwithstanding its drawbacks, our book is a classic both as to form
and contents. It has served as a prototype of most ancient and modern
books. Its influence is felt to the present day.

The book has often been cited by old writers as proof of the
debaucheries and the gluttony of ancient Rome. Nothing could be
further from the truth because these writers failed to understand the
book.

The Apicius book reflects the true condition (partly so, because it is
incomplete) of the kitchen prevailing at the beginning of our era when
the mistress of the Old World was in her full regal