Isabella Mayson was born in 1836 in Marylebone, London, the eldest of three daughters, to Benjamin Mayson, a linen factor (merchant) and his wife Elizabeth. Her father died in 1840. Her mother married Henry Dorling, a widower with four children. Over the next 20 years, they had thirteen more children. Isabella was instrumental in their upbringing and referred to them as a "living cargo of children." The experience gave her much insight and experience in how to manage a family and its household. After boarding school in Islington, Isabella was sent to school in Heidelberg, Germany, where she studied piano and learned French and German. She also gained experience making pastry, lessons she continued back in England. In 1855, Isabella married Samuel Orchart Beeton, the first British publisher of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Samuel was "a discreet but firm believer in the equality of women," and their personal and professional relationship was an equal partnership. Samuel persuaded Isabella to contribute to The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine, an affordable magazine aimed at young middle class women. She translated French fiction for publication as serials and wrote the cookery column. She also contributed to other publications and founded The Queen, the Ladies Newspaper with her husband. On this date in 1861, they published the first complete version of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management. It was an immediate best-seller, selling 60,000 copies in its first year and nearly two million by 1868, a year after Isabella's death by puerperal fever, at age 32, having borne four children, two of whom died in infancy. The Book of Household Management was still in print as of 2016. In 2010 a copy of the first edition of Household Management in "top condition" was worth more than £1,000. Credits: https://w.wiki/W6bi Photo: https://w.wiki/W6bw Creative Commons Attribution Another solo ride. Out and back on the rail trail and both ways up Swanton Road. I felt unusually strong throughout the ride, maybe partly due to light winds, cool air, and mostly misty clouds, only occasional sun. I was amazed that I averaged 14.8 mph from Garfield Park in Santa Cruz to Cal Fire in Swanton. The climb over the Swanton hill and back dropped my average speed, of course. I pushed hard the rest of the way back, trying to get the average back up over 14 mph and keep it there. I was just abled do do it! Another fun ride. I can only hope I feel as good on Mount Diablo in three days!