ALAN BROOKE, Nature’s Missionary: Seth Lister Mosley – Naturalist, Museum Curator and Mystic 1848–1929 (Huddersfield: Huddersfield Local History Society, 2022. £15 [paperback]. 264 pages [Inc. 16 pages of full-colour plates]. ISBN: 9780992984151)

Abstract

(p.108) but they’re easy to work around. The book is well illustrated with Brears’ characteristic hand drawn pictures. In general, these work well, for his forensic eye for detail and skill as a draughtsman means that they are often clearer than any photograph could be. At times, though the lack of alternative can be frustrating, especially when a visual source is described in the text. I would have loved to have seen the actual photograph of Leslie Feather’s bakery (p.43). One of the great strengths of Brears’ writing is his lack of patience with romanticising the past, especially when this creeps into object interpretation. His dry takedown of the idea of pottery beer containers as having been ‘cider jars’ should have anyone who has unthinkingly subscribed to the idea wincing. He is clear-eyed and matter of fact when describing the aching poverty of the area for much of history, and of the consequences of this for the development of an identifiably regional cuisine. The final two chapters cover the rhythms of the year, as seen through food, and the corresponding way in which lives were marked through cakes and biscuits—very much in the vein of Mary Douglas but highly focussed on the way in which food was used in this place and by these people. They manage to bring together the themes and specifics of the rest of the book neatly. Separate indexes of people, places and recipes are provided. Overall, this does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a reminder of how useful small-scale publications are, fitting nicely into the wider landscape of food history, as well as being fascinating as a study in its own right.