a large number of other
persons accustomed from their youth up to artistic cookery. Careme
proved equal to the situation. Talleyrand's dinners were renowned
throughout Europe and America. But this cook of genius, not satisfied
with his attainments, took lessons in the art from Guipiere, the
renowned _chef_ of the Emperor Napoleon--he who followed Murat into the
wilds of Russia and perished with so many other cooks and heroes.

Careme appears to have succeeded Guipiere in the Imperial kitchen, but
he did not follow the Emperor to Elba. When the allied kings celebrated
their triumph in Paris at a grand banquet, it was Careme who, as the
French say, "executed the repast." His brilliant success on this
occasion was trumpeted over Europe, and after the final downfall of
Napoleon he was invited to take charge of the kitchen of the English
Prince Regent. At various times during his career he was cook to the
Emperor Alexander of Russia, to the Emperor of Austria, to the Prince of
Wurtemberg, and to the head of the house of Rothschild. In the service
of these illustrious eaters he gained large sums of money, which,
however, he was very far from hoarding.

In the maturity of his powers he devoted himself and his fortune to
historical investigations concerning the art of cookery. For several
years he was to be daily seen in the Imperial Library, studying the
cookery, so renowned, of the ancient Greeks and Romans, desiring
especially to know whether they possessed any secrets which had been
lost. His conclusion was, that the dishes served upon the tables of
Lucullus, Augustus Caesar, and others, were "utterly bad and atrociously
stupid." But he commended the decoration of their tables, the cups and
vases of gold, the beautiful pitchers, the chased silver, the candles of
white Spanish wax, the fabrics of silk whiter than the snow, and the
beautiful flowers with which their tables were covered. He published the
results of his labors in a large octavo volume, illustrated by a hundred
and twenty-eight engravings. He continued his studious labors, and
published at various periods "Ancient and Modern Cookery Compared," in
two volumes, octavo, "The Paris Cook, or the Art of Cooking in the
Nineteenth Century," and others. Toward the close of his life, he wrote
a magazine article upon Napoleon's way of eating at St. Helena.

He dedicated one of his works to his great instructor and master in the
art of cookery, Guipiere. To give the reade