Hors d’Oeuvre and Canapés was published by M. Barrows and Company in 1940, Beard’s first book and the beginning of one of the most influential careers in American food history. The book arose from Beard’s experience running a catering business and a small food shop in New York, where he had developed a reputation for elegant but unpretentious party food.
The book collects several hundred recipes for appetizers, canapés, dips, spreads, and small savory dishes — organized by type and occasion, with the practical intelligence of someone who has made these things professionally and knows what works, what keeps, and what impresses. Beard’s approach is already fully formed: he respects good ingredients, he values simplicity, and he refuses to be intimidated by French culinary authority while freely borrowing its techniques.
The timing was significant: 1940 America was emerging from the Depression and approaching the war, and home entertaining was changing — becoming more casual, more frequent, and less dependent on servants. Beard’s book addressed this new audience directly: people who wanted to entertain well but who did their own cooking, and who needed recipes that were impressive without being impossible.
Collecting Hors d’Oeuvre and Canapés
First edition (M. Barrows, New York, 1940): Cloth binding, dust jacket. Beard’s first book.
Market values:
- First edition in dust jacket: $80–$300
- Without jacket: $20–$50
- Revised editions: $10–$25