The Mycophagists' Book by Patricia Healy Evans, 1951

“This volume treats of the cooking and eating of mushrooms. Those persons who do not possess previous knowledge of that trinity of “polite eating, polite drinking and polite conversation” would better employ their time elsewhere than in reading this work. I think Henry Fielding, from whom the above quotation is borrowed, did not mean by the word a polite knowledge only of manners, although we will allow their importance, but an added sense of living as well.””¹

So opens The Mycophagists’ Book, a guide to cooking mushrooms written and illustrated by Patricia Healy Evans and printed by the Peregrine Press in 1951. The Peregrine Press, owned and operated by Henry Herman Evans and his wife Patricia, would play a prominent role in the San Francisco Renaissance, leaving little doubt that the Evans family possessed quite 'a sense of living.'” The book consists of 33 rough cut pages and is bound in cheerfully patterned red, yellow, black, and white silk. UCLA’s copy remains in pristine condition, with the cover retaining bright colors that stand out boldly on a silk binding that is yet to show the slightest signs of yellowing and pages untouched by the stains or mold one might expect from an almost seventy-year-old cookbook.²

The Mycophagists’ Book does not contain any of the images of finished recipes that one would expect from a commercially published cookbook of the 1950s. Instead, the book is interspersed with large, illustrated letters that recall the flourishes of a medieval illuminated manuscript. Each of the illustrated letters is entwined with a species of mushroom that begins with the same letter; morels background the letter “M,” a large bolete sprouts behind the letter “B,” and chanterelles flourish among the letter “C.” Each of the letters was designed and cut into linoleum blocks by the author, along with the graphics that decorate the title and final pages. The Mycophagists’ Book is printed in Caslon type, as were all books printed by The Peregrine Press as Henry Evans considered it “the most appropriate to the purposes of the press,” purposes which prioritized “progress and achievement in the arts... [especially] music, cookery, and printing, as these most obviously are three most important of the arts."³The book was printed using the Evans’ 1852 Washington iron hand press, acquired only two years before the printing of The Mycophagists’ Book.⁴

The methods of production used to create The Mycophagist’s Book (and others from the Peregrine Press), from hand setting Caslon type to carving illustrations from blocks to the use of a hand press all recall methods used by printers in the medieval period. Evans’ appreciation for the aesthetics of the Middle Ages, along with his distinct leftist philosophy, show him to be a fine press printer from the mold of William Morris. Morris, a printer, writer, and artist of the late 19th century, was a key figure in the Arts and Crafts movement who mourned the effects of the Industrial Revolution on art and society.⁵ Morris and others of the movement preached a return to craftsmanship and medieval aesthetics, and the influence of the medieval period can be seen in both the visual qualities and content of the works printed by his Kelmscott Press.⁶

Like the works of William Morris, Patricia Evans’ The Mycophagists’ Book demonstrates a medieval influence in both its aesthetics and text. The format of the modern cookbook, which consists of a heading with the recipe title on each page, a section listing ingredients and measurements, and a section of step-by-step ingredients, was well established by the nineteenth century.⁷ Phrases such as “But we can chatter as we cook, providing we keep our minds on the cooking,”⁸ lend a genial tone to Evans’ book, which unspools in a continuous format marked by chapters rather than individual recipes. This organization, along with her consistent use of phrases such as “if you want to…” and “to make a…” have more in common with cookbooks from the 15th century than the 20th.⁹ Evans’ goal is the education and enrichment of the reader, not the precise replication of recipes, something she explicitly states on page 5: “You must use these recipes only as a starting point; use your imagination to vary them; the possibilities are endless.”¹⁰

Patricia Healy Evans details a total of 96 possible preparations of mushrooms in the 33 pages of The Mycophagists’ Book.¹¹ She shares fascinating facts about fungi as well, dedicating two whole pages to a description of the mushroom cultivation and social organization of Atta Ants.¹² Interspersed with recipe instructions and mushroom trivia are bits of general cookery advice that could just as well come from a popular cooking show of the present, including “I cannot repeat too often that even the best of cooks can not cook well without the best of ingredients… Actually there is no such thing as a “cooking wine. If the wine is not good enough to be drunk, it is not good enough to cook with,” and ““A cook worthy of her work will never neglect the appearance of the food she serves.”¹³ While this advice holds true today, The Mycophagists’ Book reflects the cooking traditions and commonly available ingredients of 1950s America, frequently instructing that recipes be cooked with bits of ham or tongue. Of course no cookbook from the 1950’s would be complete without a mayonnaise-plagued jelly mold, and The Mycophagists Book is no exception proven by this recipe for Empyreal Salad of Jellied Mushrooms: “use one envelope of plain gelatine soaked in a quarter cup of cold water, three cups of sliced mushrooms, two cups of boiling water, one teaspoon of salt, the juice of one large lemon, and lettuce and mayonnaise.”¹⁴ Outdated though they may be, book historians have cause to be grateful for such recipes as cookbooks often provide important evidence for the availability of ingredients, commonly used household technology, and culinary conventions of a period. Unfortunately, Evans does not name any sources for her recipes or include a bibliography. This information is sorely missed, causing one to wonder if her extensive knowledge of recipes from France, Hungary, and other far off places was gained by travel, word of mouth, or simply research at her local library. Though the lack of bibliography is disappointing, it is not surprising since the publishing of cookbooks throughout history has largely been considered a collaborative process that does not require the citation of sources.¹⁵

Evans introduces a recipe for cream-cheese stuffed mushrooms thus: “First, an angelic suggestion for one of the most delicious morsels you will ever taste… These angels, served with champagne, are all you need to establish a salon.”¹⁶ One might be wise to heed her advice for establishing such a salon, as the Evans’, and Peregrine Press, would become inextricably linked with the burgeoning San Francisco Renaissance. In fact, UCLA’s copy of The Mycophagists’ Book was first owned by Kenneth Rexroth, considered by many to be “the grandfather of the Beats,”¹⁷ and bears the inscription, “For Martha and Kenneth and Mary, with much affection from Pat,” in the front of the book. The San Francisco Renaissance was a cultural movement of the mid-20th century remembered most for its poetry, which featured themes of sexual liberation and the rejection of consumerism.¹⁸ The year after Patricia gifted a copy of The Mycophagists Book to Rexroth, he published a translation of poems by O. V. de L.-Milosz with the Peregrine Press.¹⁹ The Press continued to print poetry, most notably that of Mel Fowler, but Evans would pass on one poem in particular that might have dramatically altered the course of the Peregrine Press’ history. According to an unpublished memoir, in 1955 Henry Evans was asked by Allen Ginsberg if he might publish Ginsberg’s poem Howl in the Peregrine Press’ ongoing Poems & Pictures series. Evans refused, cautious of the controversial subject matter, and referred Ginsberg to Lawrence Ferlinghetti of City Lights Bookstore. City Lights’ publishing of Howl, and the ensuing obscenity trial, would go on to become one of the most famous events of the Beat movement.²⁰

Patricia Healy Evans, along with her daughter Judith, played a much larger role in the production of the Press than serving up delightful mushroom canapes to famous poets. In the early days of the Peregrine Press, Patricia was responsible for opening and operating the associated Porpoise Bookshop, also owned by the Evans family, while Henry worked on the press at home. In addition to The Mycophagists’ Book, Patricia would author a series of small books for children and contribute illustrations for many of the early works of the press. Judith, according to a letter written by her father in 1952, was “learning to set type and can now print some of the numerous books she has planned.” Sadly, the family run of the press would cease after Patricia and Henry’s divorce in 1962. Patricia would go on to marry librarian Kenneth J. Carpenter, and together they established the Black Rock Press at the University of Nevada, continuing her contribution to print culture even after the discontinuation of the Peregrine Press.²¹

The Mycophagists’ Book, therefore, should be treasured as the first book authored, illustrated, and printed by a woman who figured so prominently in print culture, helping to usher in an era of cultural revolution that would sprout into the San Francisco counterculture of the 1960s. Patricia Healy Evans comes from a long tradition of women in the margins of revolution, setting type and serving morsels while participating in conversations that alter the course of society, and we are lucky that her life, unlike that of many of her forebears, has been relatively well-documented and her contributions remembered.

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References Cited

¹ Evans, Patricia. The Mycophagists’ Book. San Francisco, Peregrine Press, 1951.↩

² Ibid."↩

³ Crichton, John. "Henry, Patricia, and Judith Evans: The Peregrine Press and the Porpoise Bookshop: Part I."Book Club of California Quarterly(2015):3-15. Print."↩

⁴ Crichton, John, and Book Club Of California. Henry Evans : Bookseller, Printer, Publisher, Printmaker.San Francisco: The Book Club Of California, Hollis, Nh, 2019.(2015)."↩

⁵ Drucker, Johanna. “History of the Book – Chapter 9. Industrialization of Print: Automation, Mass Production, Changes in Literacy, and Aesthetic Responses.” hob.gseis.ucla.edu. Accessed March 10, 2020. https://hob.gseis.ucla.edu/HoBCoursebook_Ch_9.html."↩

⁶ Ibid."↩

⁷Notaker, Henry. A History of Cookbooks : From Kitchen to Page over Seven Centuries. Oakland, California: University Of California Press, 2017 "↩

⁸Patricia Evans, The Mycophagists’ Book. (San Francisco, Peregrine Press, 1951), 2."↩

⁹Notaker, Henry. A History of Cookbooks : From Kitchen to Page over Seven Centuries. Oakland, California: University Of California Press, 2017 "↩

¹⁰Patricia Evans, The Mycophagists’ Book. (San Francisco, Peregrine Press, 1951), 5."↩

¹¹ Evans, Patricia. The Mycophagists’ Book. San Francisco, Peregrine Press, 1951.↩

¹² Ibid.↩

¹³Patricia Evans, The Mycophagists’ Book. (San Francisco, Peregrine Press, 1951), 15-16."↩

¹⁴Patricia Evans, The Mycophagists’ Book. (San Francisco, Peregrine Press, 1951), 26."↩

¹⁵Notaker, Henry. A History of Cookbooks : From Kitchen to Page over Seven Centuries. Oakland, California: University Of California Press, 2017 "↩

¹⁶Patricia Evans, The Mycophagists’ Book. (San Francisco, Peregrine Press, 1951), 2."↩

¹⁷Wikipedia Contributors. “Kenneth Rexroth.” Wikipedia, October 7, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Rexroth#cite_note-illinois-2."↩

¹⁸Wikipedia Contributors, “San Francisco Renaissance,” Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation, September 26, 2019), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Renaissance."↩

¹⁹Wikipedia Contributors. “Kenneth Rexroth.” Wikipedia, October 7, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Rexroth#cite_note-illinois-2."↩

²⁰ Crichton, John, and Book Club Of California. Henry Evans : Bookseller, Printer, Publisher, Printmaker.San Francisco: The Book Club Of California, Hollis, Nh, 2019.(2015)."↩

²¹ Crichton, John, and Book Club Of California. Henry Evans : Bookseller, Printer, Publisher, Printmaker.San Francisco: The Book Club Of California, Hollis, Nh, 2019.(2015)."↩