Banquets
Ceremonial and social occasions are frequently enhanced and often defined by special foods and beverages. While the record of everyday meals is rarely committed to paper, special meals may leave some trace in printed menus, observers' accounts, letters, etc. Displayed here are the written remains of several banquets, from the elaborate festivities at the coronation of England's James II to a decidedly more modest dinner of HLS's class of 1915. Bon appétit!
Francis Sanford. History of the coronation of James II and Queen Mary.London : Thomas Newcomb, 1687.
This lavishly illustrated late seventeenth century "coffee-table" book on the coronation of England's James II is filled with engravings of all the participants in the coronation procession, their costume and royal regalia, and (shown here) the royal banquet that followed in Westminster Hall. The newly-crowned king and queen sit at the head table facing a double row of dining courtiers. Note the servants (about one for every two diners) waiting at table and the busy preparation of plates just behind the screens. Photographs from other pages show the careful and elaborate arrangement of plates and a list of dishes to be served at the head table.
Menu and bill for the "Court of the Pow Wow in the Harvard Law School" dinner, 25th anniversary dinner, April 4, 1896.
This elegant dinner was held at the Hotel Vendome, a Boston landmark on Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay. Note that the total food bill for 81 diners came to $202.50.
Program and menu of the third year class dinner of the Harvard Law class of 1915.
Somewhat more modest than the Pow-Wow Club dinner, this third year students' dinner was held at the Boston City Club on May 21, 1915. Pictured (left to right) are: Professors Samuel Williston, Austin Scott, Joseph Brannan, Roscoe Pound, Dean Ezra Ripley Thayer, Professors Edward Warren, Eugene Wambaugh, Joseph Beale, Joseph Warren, and Edward Brinley, Librarian.