 The complete version of Mrs Beeton 's Book of Household Management , consisting of the 24 collected monthly instalments , was published on 1 October 1861 ; it became one of the major publishing events of the nineteenth century . Isabella included an extensive 26 @-@ page " Analytical Index " in the book . Although not an innovation — it had been used in The Family Friend magazine since 1855 — Hughes considers the index in the Book of Household Management to be " <unk> detailed and <unk> cross @-@ referenced " . Of the 1 @,@ 112 pages , over 900 contained recipes . The remainder provided advice on fashion , child care , animal <unk> , poisons , the management of servants , science , religion , first aid and the importance in the use of local and seasonal produce . In its first year of publication , the book sold 60 @,@ 000 copies . It reflected Victorian values , particularly hard work , <unk> and <unk> . Christopher <unk> , in his study of the British middle classes , sees that Isabella " 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 " . The food writer <unk> Hope thinks that " one can understand its success . If ... young ladies knew nothing of domestic arrangements , no better book than this could have been devised for them . " 
