Le Cuisinier Impérial

André Viard's[1] Le Cuisinier Impérial[2] (Paris: J.-N. Barba, 1806) was a culinary encyclopedia that passed through at least thirty-two editions in its long career as the essential reference work for the French professional chef during the nineteenth century.

[3] During its long run it was a staple of its publisher, J.-N. Barba, who warned potential literary pirates, in an age before the enforcement of copyright, of his intention to prosecute any editors of cookbooks who took, in whole or part, any recipes from the publication.

Viard's rival in French kitchens was Marie-Antoine Carême's L'Art de la cuisine française au dix-neuvième siècle, the first volume of which appeared in 1833.

A German translation was published as Viard und Fourets Universal-Kochbuch (Stuttgart, Carl Hoffmann, 1827).

[7] A second edition was credited to Catharina Löffler, Pariser Kochbuch (Stuttgart, Weise and Stoppani, 1829).