Forum

Just found this forum, on recommendation from a friend. I live in North Wales UK, and I have a large collection of very old cookery books, some are victorian and Edwardian. 

Im wondering if anyone knows of any sites that give information on older cookery books? I am making a database catalogue myself and trying to find some on the internet, but search engines need a bit more information at times.

One of my books is from 1929, and is The Ideal Cookery Book MA Fairclough. 

Would be happy to supply any of the Old Recipies to those who require them.

Another book I have is Andre L Simmons Food and Wines A Concise Encyclopedia of Gastronomy. the book was planned in 1938 but in 1939 just as the Sauces section was publised WWII broke out. due to paper shortage books and rationing recipies had to be altered but one section was issued duriing each year of the war. |My copy was reprinted with corrections in 1956, and is a fascinating encyclopaedia of food.

If anyone is interested in any recipies please let me know, as this is a rare book, and not oftern found in good condition.

thanks

Lisa

At some point we will add a wiki that will allow you to add your older books to the EYB Library.  At present you can only add books that have an ISBN, which cuts out everything published before 1970.

As far as sites for reference go I would imagine that some of the libraries with large vintage cookbook collections would be a start.  In the USA I know of the Fales Library at NYU, The Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University (they have Julia Child's collection as well as the papers of M.F.K. Fisher and Elizabeth David)), Texas Woman's University.  Of course there are also large collections at the culinary schools such as Johnson & Wales, the French Culinary Institute and the Culnary Institute of America.  But their collections will generally be more up-to-date. Someone has produced an online index of historic cookbooks, but the focus is American.

I imagine there must be similar collections at some British universities.  I found an interesting page on historic cookbooks at the British Library.  The London Guildhall Library has Elizabeth David's collection. And Oxford Brookes University has Jane Grigson's collection.

I don't collect vintage cookbooks myself but I do own a few reference books which might help you - Books for Cooks, a Bibliography of Cookery by Marguerite Patten (published in 1975); Cook's Books: An Affectionate Guide to the Literature of Food and Cooking by L. Patrick Coyle (published in 1985); and A Short-title Catalogue of Household and Cookery Books published in the English Tongue 1701 - 1800 by Virginia Maclean.