In the many articles written about the history of chocolate in England, Pepys’s diary is often cited as a valuable source of information.  Pepys was an early adopter of the consumption of chocolate as a drink, a novel import as a result of the Spanish colonisation of the Americas.  In his diary, Pepys describes drinking chocolate in the company of others on a few occasions.     Prof Kate Loveman notes that the consumption of this new drink was ‘sometimes understood literally as an ‘experiment’ – an experiment with one’s health, one’s money and one’s status…Pepys self-consciously tested the drink in different concoctions, assessing its physical and social consequences’[1].  Pepys alludes to drinking chocolate for medicinal use on the 24^th April 1661: ‘Waked in the morning with my head in a sad taking through the last night’s drink, which I am very sorry for. So rise and went out with Mr. Creed to drink our morning draught, which he did give me in Chocolate to settle my stomach’[2].

In addition to writing about chocolate in his diary, Pepys also acquired a printed book on the subject.  He owned a copy of Le bon usage du thé, du caffé et du chocolat pour la preservation & pour la guerison des maladies by Nicolas de Blégny (1652-1722), a doctor to Louis XIV.[3] By the book’s title, and profession of the author, we note that the use of chocolate for its supposed medicinal properties is well-established, as alluded to in Pepys’s diary.

In Le bon usage du thé, du caffé et du chocolat, de Blégny covers all aspects of the production and consumption of chocolate, accompanied by illustrations.  One of these illustrations depicts a figure using a roller to crush the roasted cacao beans on a stone called a ‘pierre à chocolat’ together with sugar to form a paste.  The pierre à chocolat was warmed by a brazier underneath, and the heat of the brazier combined with the kneeling position was uncomfortable work for the chocolate maker.  In later centuries, the design of the pierre à chocolat was altered to allow the chocolate maker to stand while working.

It is unclear whether De Blégny is the sole author of all research contained in the book or whether he ‘borrowed’ from contemporary experts.  De Blégny discusses the etymology of the word ‘chocolate’ as a combination of the words for ‘sound’ (‘choco’) and ‘water’ (‘atle’) in the language used by ‘les Américains’, due to the sound made by the wooden stirrers used to combine the chocolate, spices and hot water and to make foam.

De Blégny’s etymology of ‘chocolate’ as ‘sound-water’ is a charming image to conjure, but worth scrutinising.  Over three hundred years after de Blégny, the linguists Daken and Wichmann conducted an analysis of the word ‘čikola:tl’ from the Nahuatl language, one of a family of ancient Mesoamerican languages, and concluded that ‘čikol’ refers to the wooden instruments used to stir the chocolate-based drink[4].  Furthermore, the authors discuss the possibility of ‘čik’ being onomatopoeic – the sound of the wooden stirrer on the side of a cup – as well as referring to the wooden stirrer itself[5].  Remarkably, despite the etymology of the word ‘chocolate’ being the subject of much contested debate, de Blégny arrives at a similar conclusion to the modern-day linguists.

To read more of de Blégny’s book, please follow this link to read a digitised copy from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

By Catherine Sutherland

Special Collections Librarian

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[1] Loveman, Kate. “The Introduction of Chocolate into England: Retailers, Researchers, and Consumers, 1640-1730”.  Journal of social history 47.1 (2013): 27-46.

[2] Pepys, Samuel (Latham, R and Matthews, W, editors).  The Diary of Samuel Pepys: A New and Complete Transcription. London: Bell, 1970.

[3] De Blégny, Nicolas. Le bon usage du thé du caffé et du chocolat pour la préservation.  Paris: chez Estienne Michallet, 1687.

[4] Dakin, Karen, and Wichmann, Søren Wichmann.  “Cacao and chocolate: A Uto-Aztecan Perspective”.  Ancient Mesoamerica 11.1 (2008): 55-75.

[5] ibid.