I adored the Julie & Julia movie so thoroughly I saw it twice and bought the DVD as soon as it came out. Besides one terrific story and over the top acting by Meryl Streep, the film is just great eye candy. I even have a ticket for the California premiere of the movie. As you know from the film, the directress of Le Cordon Bleu l'Ecole de Cuisine was Madame Brassart. Well, unbelievably, it happened to be that she was STILL at Le Cordon Bleu when I attended in 1981! She was known as the Dragon Lady by the students. She signed my certificate de cuisine et patisserie. Missy Hawley and I cooked through parts of Mastering the Art of French Cooking during the 70s in her wonderful kitchen. Julia was the reason I chose to go to Le Cordon Bleu. This is all an aside to the rest of the story.
Julia Child was finishing her course at Le Cordon Bleu and starting L'Ecole des Trois Gourmandes
with Louisette Bertholle and Simone (Simca) Beck. Well, Louisette and Simca wrote a "teaser" for an American audience in advance of the "big book" as they called it. The little spiral bound book was edited by Helmut Ripperberger, published by Ives Washburn in New York and was produced without the two authors ever seeing a proof! Louisette and Simca wrote the text of sixty-three pages, fifty recipes, and priced at $1.25. Supposedly it was sold to American students who attended classes. 2000 copies were sold. Now, I don't know if all two thousand were the same book, as there are three versions of this slim little volume. Even so, that is quite a good number of books.
1952 What's Cooking in France; A lively introduction to the delights - and simplicity - of French Cooking. The dedication states, "To Dorothy Canfield Fisher, who loves France." Helmut wrote the introduction. The cute little drawings were by Otto Fried. It was printed by Carey Press, New York. There are two Indexes, one in English, the other French.
There is an undated [1953 according to Amazon] French edition, same price, also offering "five books at a time for $5." What's Cuisine in France...; 50 delicious recipes, co-published by Ives Washburn and Editions Fischbacher, which happens to be Simca's husbands name. Librairie Fischbacher, founded 1850, was located on rue de Seine, 6e. No authors are mentioned on the cover or anywhere in the book. There is much to Simca's hand in this "European" edition. 
The introduction is by Prince Curnonsky, drawings by Edwards and Fried. It has been completely reset to forty-eight pages, including two pages of Suggested Menus and Wines. And, xvii pages of advertising! Simca was a fiscal genius, to turn pages of recipes into underwriting the production costs. Inside the back cover is a handsome blue and white advertisement for the liqueur Benedictine, which was owned by Simca's family. The book was printed in France by Lecram Paris.
1955 What's Cooking in France... a British edition, 5s.net, with Louisette Bertholle as the sole author on the cover and title page. However, a note adjacent to the title page claims, "This book is the work of Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck of Paris, and of Helmut Ripperger, cooking editor, who helped with the writing." 
The book has thick cardboard covers, double wire spine and published by MacGibbon & Kee, London. There are 53 pages with indexes and five blank pages for notes. Otto Fried's drawings return to the text.
Helmut Lothar Ripperger (1897-1974) was an author of books on art and music. He also wrote a series of single subject cookbooks in the US. Coffee Cookery, 1940; Cheese Cookery, 1941; Mushroom Cookery, 1941; and Spice Cookery, 1942. They are handsome works published by George W. Stewart, Inc., NY, NY.
