Editing Isabella Beeton (section)

===''Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management'' and later, 1861–1865===
{{Quote box|width=30%|bgcolor=#D8F6CE|align=right|quote=I must frankly own, that if I had known, beforehand, that this book would have cost me the labour which it has, I should never have been courageous enough to commence it.|salign = right|source=Isabella Beeton, Preface of the ''Book of Household Management''{{thinsp}}{{sfn|Beeton|1861|p=iii}}}}
The complete version of ''Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management'', consisting of the 24 collected monthly instalments, was published on 1 October 1861;{{sfn|Hughes|2006|p=282}}{{sfn|Spain|1948|p=164}}{{efn|The full title of the book was ''The Book of Household Management, comprising information for the Mistress, Housekeeper, Cook, Kitchen-Maid, Butler, Footman, Coachman, Valet, Upper and Under House-Maids, Lady's-Maid, Maid-of-all-Work, Laundry-Maid, Nurse and Nurse-Maid, Monthly Wet and Sick Nurses, etc. etc.—also Sanitary, Medical, & Legal Memoranda: with a History of the Origin, Properties, and Uses of all Things Connected with Home Life and Comfort''.{{sfn|Wilson|Wilson|1983|p=175}}}} it became one of the major publishing events of the nineteenth century.{{sfn|Humble|2006|p=8}} Beeton included an extensive 26-page "Analytical Index" in the book. Although not an innovation—it had been used in ''[[The Family Friend (magazine)|The Family Friend]]'' magazine since 1855—Hughes considers the index in the ''Book of Household Management'' to be "fabulously detailed and exhaustively cross-referenced".{{sfn|Hughes|2006|p=241}} Of the 1,112 pages, over 900 contained recipes. The remainder provided advice on fashion, child care, [[animal husbandry]], poisons, the management of servants, science, religion, first aid and the importance in the use of local and seasonal produce.{{sfn|Hughes|2006|pp=255–58}} In its first year of publication, the book sold 60,000 copies.<ref name="Orion: Beeton" /> It reflected [[Victorian morality|Victorian values]], particularly hard work, thrift and cleanliness.<ref name="WRB: Nichols" /> Christopher Clausen, in his study of the British middle classes, sees that Beeton "reflected better than anyone else, and for a larger audience, the optimistic message that mid-Victorian England was filled with opportunities for those who were willing to learn how to take advantage of them".<ref name="AS: Middle Classes" /> The food writer Annette Hope thinks that "one can understand its success. If&nbsp;... young ladies knew nothing of domestic arrangements, no better book than this could have been devised for them."{{sfn|Hope|2005|p=163}}

[[File:Isabella Beeton - Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management - title page.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Title page of ''[[Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management]]'', published in 1861]]
The reviews for ''Book of Household Management'' were positive. The critic for the ''[[London Evening Standard]]'' considered that Beeton had earned herself a household reputation, remarking that she had "succeeded in producing a volume which will be, for years to come, a treasure to be made much of in every English household".<ref name="LES: Review" /> The critic for the ''[[Saturday Review (London)|Saturday Review]]'' wrote that "for a really valuable repertory of hints on all sorts of household matters, we recommend Mrs Beeton with few misgivings".{{sfn|Hughes|2006|pp=282–83}} The anonymous reviewer for ''The Bradford Observer'' considered that "the information afforded&nbsp;... appears intelligible and explicit"; the reviewer also praised the layout of the recipes, highlighting details relating to ingredients, seasonality and the times needed.<ref name="BO: review" /> Writing in ''[[The Morning Chronicle]]'', an anonymous commentator opined that "Mrs Beeton has omitted nothing which tends to the comfort of housekeepers, or facilitates the many little troubles and cares that fall to the lot of every wife and mother. She may safely predict that this book will in future take precedence of every other on the same subject."<ref name="MC: Review" /> For the 1906 edition of the book, ''[[The Illustrated London News]]''{{'}}s reviewer considered the work "a formidable body of domestic doctrine", and thought that "the book is almost of the first magnitude".<ref name="ILN: Review" />

Samuel's business decisions from 1861 were unproductive and included an ill-advised investment in purchasing paper—in which he lost £1,000—and a court case over unpaid bills. His hubris in business affairs brought on financial difficulties and in early 1862 the couple had moved from their comfortable Pinner house to premises over their office. The air of central London was not conducive to the health of the Beetons' son, and he began to ail. Three days after Christmas his health worsened and he died on New Year's Eve 1862 at the age of three; his death certificate gave the cause as "suppressed scarlatina" and "laryngitis".{{sfn|Hughes|2006|pp=301–03, 306–08}}{{efn|''Scarlatina'' is an archaic name for [[scarlet fever]].{{sfn|Hughes|2006|p=308}}}} In March 1863 Beeton found that she was pregnant again, and in April the couple moved to a house in [[Greenhithe, Kent]]; their son, who they named Orchart, was born on New Year's Eve 1863.{{sfn|Freeman|1977|pp=226–27}} Although the couple had been through financial problems, they enjoyed relative prosperity during 1863, boosted by the sale of ''The Queen'' to [[Edward William Cox|Edward Cox]] in the middle of the year.{{sfn|Freeman|1977|pp=227–28}}{{sfn|Hughes|2006|p=301}}

In the middle of 1864 the Beetons again visited the Goubauds in Paris—the couple's third visit to the city—and Beeton was pregnant during the visit, just as she had been the previous year. On her return to Britain she began working on an abridged version of the ''Book of Household Management '', which was to be titled ''The Dictionary of Every-Day Cookery''.{{sfn|Hughes|2006|pp=314–16, 319}}{{sfn|Freeman|1977|pp=228–30}} On 29 January 1865, while working on the proofs of the dictionary, she went into labour; the baby—Mayson Moss—was born that day.{{efn|Mayson became a journalist for the ''[[Daily Mail]]''; he was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] for his work at the [[Ministry of Munitions]] during the First World War. The Beetons' elder son, Orchart, went on to a career in the army; both died in 1947.{{sfn|Spain|1948|p=255}}}} Beeton began to feel feverish the following day and died of [[postpartum infections|puerperal fever]] on 6 February at the age of 28.{{sfn|Beetham|2012}}{{sfn|Hughes|2006|p=319}}

[[File:WNC Beeton.JPG|thumb|Gravestone of Samuel and Isabella, [[West Norwood Cemetery]]]]
Beeton was buried at [[West Norwood Cemetery]] on 11 February.{{sfn|Beetham|2012}}{{efn|When Samuel died in 1877, at the age of 46, he was buried alongside his wife.{{sfn|Spain|1948|p=254}}}} When ''The Dictionary of Every-Day Cookery'' was published in the same year, Samuel added a tribute to his wife at the end:

{{blockquote|text=Her works speak for themselves; and, although taken from this world in the very height and strength, and in the early days of womanhood, she felt satisfaction—so great to all who strive with good intent and warm will—of knowing herself regarded with respect and gratitude.|author=Samuel Beeton, ''The Dictionary of Every-Day Cookery''{{sfn|Beeton|1865|p=372}}}}