An account of Paris at the close of the seventeenth century : relating to the buildings of that city, its libraries, gardens, natural and artifical curiosities, the manners and customs of the people, their arts, manufactures, &c / by Martin Lister.

  • Lister, Martin, 1638?-1712.
Date:
[1823]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An account of Paris at the close of the seventeenth century : relating to the buildings of that city, its libraries, gardens, natural and artifical curiosities, the manners and customs of the people, their arts, manufactures, &c / by Martin Lister. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    me to dinner, telling me he was infinitely obliged to me for flattering the king’s ducks.’4 Nor did he stop here; but made the doctor the butt of his ridicule, or rather sarcasm, on account of his edition of the work of Apicius Cmlius, on the soups and sauces of the ancients. The vehicle of hi* satire was his poem, which he called the Art of Cookery, in imitation of Horace’s Art of Poetry. This he addressed to Dr. JLister, and made him, in a manner, the hero of the piece. It opens thus: Ingenious bister ! Avere a picture drawn, With Cynthia’s face, but with a neck like brawn, With wings of turkey, and with feet of calf, 1 hough drawn by Kueller it would make you laugh.” And in a further part says : Oh could that poet live, could he rehearse, Thy journey, Lister, in immortal verse— Muse ! sing the man that did to Paris go, lhat he might taste their soups, and mushrooms know.” Tn all this the want of candour and liberality is quite as conspicuous as the ability admitted to be displayed. The public did not enter into the jest, and it is probable, that the author’s fondness of the piece, which he shewed on several occasions by describing himself as the author of Sorbiere’s Journey to London, led him to attacli more importance to it than it was entitled to. In all his works Lister gave ample proof of the great accuracy of his observation, and in those more particularly anatomical, of the unwearied industry with which lie persevered in detecting and developing the minute structure of the human body, and that of inferior animals. The great blemish of his literary character was his excessive fondness for controversy,