Cookbooks
Thanks to the generosity of Waldo Lincoln, who gave his personal library
of American cookbooks to the Society in 1929, the researcher is
blessed with a collection rich in depth and breadth. A 1985 estimate of
its size sets
the figure at around 1,100 volumes, for the most part published before the
year 1877. The Society actively collects in this field whenever
opportunities arise.
Although the Society's collecting policy emphasizes materials
printed in the New World English colonies and the United States,
a few cookbooks with British and other imprints are also included here.
It was not until 1742 that a cookbook was published in America, when
William Parks, a Williamsburg printer, gave the public
The Compleat Housewife.
This was a reprint of a London bestseller published
fifteen years earlier. The Society's copy of this scarce book is in
excellent
condition. Another half-century was to elapse before the appearance of
what is generally considered to be America's first truly indigenous
cookbook, Amelia Simmons's American Cookery,
published in Hartford in 1796. A copy of this work is also in the
Society's library, as are several later editions, all rare.
Fifteen handwritten receipt books, dating from 1650 to the late
nineteenth century, are located in the Manuscripts Collection. A few
items germane to the general topic of domestic economy are shelved in the
Graphic Arts collection. In addition, the Society holds strong collections
of
printed books on the subject of domestic management theory, kitchens
and their furnishings, the history of American eating habits, manuals of
brewing, baking, and confectionery, not to mention biographies of such
nineteenth-century cultural icons as Catharine Beecher, Sarah Hale,
and Lydia Child. These provide the historical and sociological background
that goes far beyond the realm of cookbooks, narrowly defined.
Materials pertaining to the subject of cookery, including
cookbooks, dated pamphlets, dated books, almanacs, and graphic arts, are
contained in a comprehensive checklist made in 1983. These are
accessible by both author and title, and, in some cases, by subject.
In addition, pre-1821 materials
are to be found in the Imprints Catalog. Researchers may also look
in the General Catalog for information under the subject heading "Cookery"
and related terms such as "Food" and "Diet."
Of additional help is Eleanor Lowenstein's
Bibliography of American Cookery Books 1742-1860,
published by the Society in 1972, and William Woys Weaver's
Additions and Corrections to Lowenstein's "Bibliography of
American Cookery Books, 1742-1860," which appeared in volume 92, part
2, of the Proceedings (1983). A more detailed description of the
cookbook
collection appears in the Journal of Gastronomy vol. 5, no. 3
(Winter 1989-90), pp. 18-31, under the title "The Cook's Oracle."
Cookbooks refuse to remain in the kitchen, for when we look more
closely, we find that they illuminate many other aspects of the past:
technological (in the shift from fireplace to stove, from pump to
running water), sociological (family composition and the relations between
husband and wife, parent and child, mistress of the house and servant),
and
religious and scientific (nutrition theories and fads). For students
of women's history, cookbooks present a wealth of information about the
changing role of women, without which our understanding of past and
current ideals would be much impoverished.
- Anne C. Moore, Cataloger, North American Imprints Program
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Eliza Smith. The Compleat Housewife; or, Accomplish'd Gentlewoman's
Companion. (Williamsburg, Va., 1742).
First published in England in 1727, this book appears to be the first
cookbook
published in America.
Amelia Simmons. American Cookery... (Hartford, 1796).
This book is considered the first cookery book published in the United
States
of American authorship.
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Feeding America:
The Historic American Cookbook Project is an online
collection of some of the most important and influential American
cookbooks of the 19th and early 20th century. It was created by Michigan
State University Library and the MSU Museum.
The Cook's Oracle is a database
database designed to help people doing research in
pre-twentieth-century cookbooks, and some other sources.
For current information on the cataloging status of this and
other AAS collections, choose "Collection Access" below.
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