From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Mastering the Art of French Cooking is a two-volume French cookbook written by Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, both of France, and Julia Child of the United States. The book was written for the American market and published by Knopf in 1961 (Volume 1) and 1970 (Volume 2).eck had wanted to create a volume 3, but Child, with her TV career doing well, was less interested; they severed their writing partnership and Beck's work for volume 3 became her first published book in English, Simca's Cuisine.