Culinary History

The field of food and cookery has always held a strong interest for The New York Public Library. The retrospective collection on gastronomy and the history of foods is unusually extensive, and the cookbook collection alone numbers well over 16,000 volumes. From the beginning, the Library has sought out culinary materials from all regions of the country, and from all parts of the world, in all the languages in which it collects. Some highlights of the collections are described in an article in Biblion, The New York Public Library's journal, in the issue of Fall 1993 (vol. 2, no. 1).

The general collections are complemented by the Helen Hay Whitney collection of mostly English-language cookbooks and manuscripts, from the 15th to the 19th century, in the Rare Books Division and the Manuscripts and Archives Division; and the Buttolph collection of over 20,000 historical menus, from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century, in the General Research Division.

Historically, curatorial responsibility for culinary materials has shifted back and forth between the humanities and the sciences at The New York Public Library. The General Research Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library now holds materials on the historical, anthropological, social, and cultural aspects of food, beverages, and cooking. Materials on the technological, commercial, and biochemical aspects of those subjects will be found at the Science, Industry and Business Library.

Just as food and drink touch all aspects of human culture, these subjects are represented in all parts of the Library, including the Schomburg Center for the Study of Black Culture and even the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. There are substantial holdings in the Dorot Jewish Division, and the Slavic and Baltic Division, as well as in special collections such as the Rare Books Division and the Manuscripts and Archives Division, the Arents Collection, and the Spencer Collection. Many of these are included in the general catalogs, but some will be found only in specific divisional catalogs. Most English-language culinary texts, from the 15th to the 19th century, are available in microform (see Research Guide: English and Early American Imprints). Many historical texts have also been issued in facsimile editions.

A selection of basic materials is available in the General Research Division's Reading Room. Some of these are listed in the following pages. Those whose titles are self-explanatory are generally not annotated.

Using the Catalogs

General instructions for locating materials are given in the Research Guide, How Do I Find a Book? The following information is specific to the topic at hand.

Information on materials catalogued, recatalogued, or added to the collections after 1971 will be found in the Library's online catalog. The four-volume list of Library of Congress Subject Headings, may be consulted in the General Research Division's Reading Room and elsewhere. Cookbooks are found under the heading Cookery, with its many subdivisions. Representative related subjects are:

Baking Food
Beverages Food Habits
Brewing Gastronomy
Condiments Home Economics
Dinners and Dining Menus
Entertaining Table Decoration and Service
Etiquette Wine and Winemaking

in addition to headings for specific foods, beverages, cooking processes, etc.

Materials acquired by the Library prior to 1972 will be found in the 800-volume Dictionary Catalog. Again, the heading for cookbooks is Cookery. The New York Public Library Research Libraries' Catalog of Cookbooks (*RS-VT 84-24 or JFF 94-1159) is a two-volume compilation of all entries which appear under that heading. International cookery, for example, is found under Cookery--Receipts. Related headings in the Dictionary Catalog include Domestic Economy and Woman. The overwhelming majority of entries catalogued before the mid-1950s, under the Billings classmark VT (cookbooks under VTI), are located at the Library's storage facility. These must be requested in advance but are usually available within 24 hours.

Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Directories, etc.

Cooking, Cookbooks, Food

 

Beverages

A Selective List of Works on the History of Food, Beverages, and Cookery

NB: Cookbooks are generally omitted from this list since they are so easily located in the Library's catalogs.

General Works
The Classical World
The West
The East
The Americas and the United States
Beverages
Specific Foods and Beverages

General Works

McGee, Harold. The Curious cook. (San Francisco: North Point Press, 1990). JFE 90-8208. A companion volume to the above.

Tannahill, Reay. Food in history. (New York: Crown, c1988). JFE 91-7568. A concise and reliable source.

Toussaint-Samat, Maguelonne. Histoire naturelle & morale de la nourriture. English. A History of food. (Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Reference, 1992). *R-VT 93-1641. A somewhat eccentric and French-oriented but thorough and entertaining history.

Visser, Margaret. Much depends on dinner. (Toronto, Ont.: McClelland & Stewart, c1986). JFE 96-1586. An examination of the anthropology of dinner and of some of its individual components.

Visser, Margaret. The Rituals of dinner. (New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1991). *R-SBD 91-7515. A companion volume on manners.

The Classical World

Dalby, Andrew. Siren feasts: a history of food and gastronomy in Greece. (London and New York: Routledge, 1996). JFE 96-4795. An exhaustive and scholarly account.

Food in antiquity. Edited by John Wilkins, David Harvey & Mike Dobson; foreword by Alan Davidson. (Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1995.) JFF 95-18578.

The West

Henisch, Bridget Ann. Fast and feast: food in medieval society. (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, c1976). *R-VT 93-5052. A social and anthropological history based mainly on English sources from the 13th to the 15th century.

Mennell, Stephen. All manners of food: eating and taste in England and France from the Middle Ages to the present. (Oxford and New York: Blackwell, 1985). *R-VT 93-5053. 2nd ed. (Urbana, University of Illinois Press, 1996). JFE 96-2651.

Paston-Williams, Sara. The Art of dining: a history of cooking & eating. (London: National Trust, 1993). *R-VT 94-47. With the emphasis on Britain.

Scully, Terence. The Art of cookery in the Middle Ages. (Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 1995). On order. History, with some recipes.

Wheaton, Barbara Ketcham. Savoring the past: the French kitchen and table from 1300 to 1789. (Philadelphia: Pennsylvania University Press, 1983). *R-VT 93-5056. An authoritative history of French cooking and its social context; brief sample of historical recipes; extensive bibliography.

Wilson, C. Anne. Food and drink in Britain from the Stone Age to the 19th century. (Chicago: Chicago Academy Publishers, c1973). JFD 92-7436. Serious social history, with copious notes and a bibliography.

The East

Achaya, K. T. Indian food: a historical companion. (Delhi and New York: Oxford University Press, 1994). JFF 95-1137 or *OHO 94-3953 (Oriental Division). A history of the subcontinent's foods and food practices, from prehistory to the Raj.

Anderson, Eugene N. The Food of China. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988). JFE 92-7112. A history and ethnography of Chinese food, agriculture and cookery, from the Bronze Age to the twentieth century.

Bottero, Jean. Textes culinaires mesopotamiens = Mesopotamian culinary texts. (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1995). *OCP 95-7460. Translation of the Akkadian texts into French, with an introductory chapter in English.

Darby, William J., Paul Ghalioungui, and Louis Grivetti. Food, the gift of Osiris. (London and New York: Academic Press, 1977). *OBK 79-4214 (Oriental Division). A two-volume history of food in Egypt.

Simoons, Frederick J. Food in China: a cultural and historical inquiry. (Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, c1991). JFF 91-1821.

The Americas and the United States

Coe, Sophie D. America's first cuisines. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994). HBC 94-5051. The cuisines of the original inhabitants of the New World, the Aztec, Maya and Inca civilizations.

Cummings, Richard Osborn. The American and his food. (New York: Arno Press, 1970 [c1941]). JFD 96-5698; *Z-7156 no. 2. A classic work of social history.

Egerton, John. Southern food: at home, on the road, in history. (Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, c1987). JFE 94-10734. (New York: Knopf, 1993). JFE 93-10337.

Hess, John L. and Karen. The Taste of America, "third" ed. ([Columbia, S.C.] University of S. C. Press, c1989). JFE 92-4656. A detailed, impassioned history of American food habits and how they have been shaped; annotated bibliography. First published 1977 (JFD 95-265).

Hooker, Richard J. Food and drink in America: a history. (Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill, [1981]). JLE 81-1530. Extensive factual material and copious notes; no bibliography.

Levenstein, Harvey A. Paradox of plenty: a social history of eating in modern America. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993). JFE 93-1900.

Levenstein, Harvey A. Revolution at the table: the transformation of the American diet. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988). JFE 96-1593. A scholarly, thoroughly researched, and entertaining account.

Mendelson, Anne. Stand facing the stove: the story of the women who gave America the Joy of Cooking.New York: Henry Holt, 1996.) JFE 96-19572. A biography of two remarkable women, with much information on the history of American home cooking and cookbook publishing in the 20th century.

Niethammer, Carolyn. American Indian food and lore. (New York: Macmillan, [1974]). HBC 75-407.

Plante, Ellen M. The American kitchen, 1700 to the present: from hearth to highrise.(New York: Facts on File, c1995.) JFE 97-7144.

Recipes for reading: community cookbooks, stories, histories, edited by Anne L. Bower. (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1997.) JFE 98-406. A collection of essays in which "scholars in history, English studies, linguistics, performance studies, foreign languages, and culinary history" apply "reader-response, deconstructivist, feminist, and historicist theoretical approaches" to the study of community cookbooks.

Root, Waverley, and Richard de Rochemont. Eating in America: a history.(New York: Morrow, 1976). JFF 96-6078. An informal but comprehensive source.

Shapiro, Laura. Perfection salad: women and cooking at the turn of the century. (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, c1986). JFD 94-11793. A witty and instructive history of the scientific cookery movement and its leading lights.

Williams, Susan. Savory suppers and fashionable feasts: dining in Victorian America. (New York: Pantheon Books in association with the Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum, 1985.) JFE 94-8196. Second edition forthcoming.

Beverages

Baron, Stanley. Brewed in America: a history of beer and ale in the United States. (Boston, Little, Brown, [1962]). JFE 95-514. A solid reference, the only one of its kind.

Downard, William L. Dictionary of the history of the American brewing and distilling industries. (Westport, CT, Greenwood Press, 1980). JLE 81-2310 (Science, Industry, and Business Library). With a selected bibliography.

Hyams, Edward S. Dionysus: a social history of the wine vine. (New York: Macmillan, [1965]). E-12 5715.

Johnson, Hugh. Vintage: the story of wine. (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989). *R-VTS 91-8635.

One hundred years of brewing: a complete history of the progress made in the art, science and industry of brewing in the world, particularly during the nineteenth century. Historical sketches and views of ancient and modern breweries. Lives and portraits of brewers of the past and present. (Chicago and New York: H.S. Rich & Co., 1903). *ZV-152 (microfilm; Science, Industry and Business Library). An excellent source, microfilm notwithstanding.

Pinney, Thomas. A History of wine in America from the beginnings to Prohibition. (Berkeley, University of California Press, c1989). JFF 96-3291. Comprehensive, with an extensive bibliography.

Specific Foods and Beverages

Coe, Sophie D. and Michael. The True history of chocolate. (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1996.) JFE 96-15853.

Fussell, Betty. The Story of corn. (New York: Knopf, 1992). JFF 95-2779. The mythology, history, growing and preparation of corn; classified bibliography.

Mintz, Sidney. Sweetness and power: the place of sugar in modern history. (New York: Viking, 1985). JLE 85-2421.

Salaman, Redcliffe. The History and social influence of the potato.(Cambridge, Eng., Cambridge University Press, 1949). JFD 97-15275.

Smith, Andrew F. The Tomato in America: early history, culture, and cookery. (Columbia, S.C., University of South Carolina Press, c1994). JFE 95-6856.

Ukers, William Harrison. All about coffee. (New York: Tea & Coffee Trade Journal Col, 1935). JFF 98-349.

Ukers, William Harrison. All about tea. (New York: Tea & Coffee Trade Journal Co., 1935). JFF 96-3290. 2 vol.

A Selective List of Editions of Historical Texts

Fourteenth Century
Fifteenth Century
Sixteenth-Seventeenth Century
Eighteenth Century
Nineteenth Century

Fourteenth Century

Curye on Inglysch: English culinary manuscripts of the fourteenth century, edited by Constance B. Hieatt and Sharon Butler. (London and New York: Published for the Early English Text Society by Oxford University Press, 1985). JFD 96-9367. A collection of 14th-century English manuscript recipes, with an introduction on their context, a select bibliography, extensive notes, glossary and index. One of the Forme of Cury manuscripts examined is Whitney MS. 1 in the Manuscripts and Archives Division.

The Goodman of Paris (Le ménagier de Paris): a treatise on moral and domestic economy by a citizen of Paris (c. 1393), now first translated into English with an introduction and notes by Eileen Power. (London: G. Routledge & Sons, 1928.) VSB.

Mén agier de Paris. French & French (Middle French). Le Mesnagier de Paris, edited by Georgina [sic] E. Brereton and Janet M. Ferrier, translation and notes by Karin Ueltschi. ([Paris], Livre de poche, c1994). JFE 92-87. A scholarly edition of the ca 1394 anonymous text which includes a treatise on cookery.

Taillevent, 1326-1395. The Viandier of Taillevent, Terence Scully, ed. ([Ottawa] University of Ottawa Press, c1988). JFE 94-7557. An edition of the four extant manuscripts of the 14th-century collection of recipes known as Viandier of Guillaume Tirel ("Taillevent"), with introduction, commentary, English translation, select bibliography and glossary.

Fifteenth Century

An Ordinance of pottage, edited by Constance B. Hieatt. (London, Prospect Books, 1988). JFD 93-1478. A scholarly edition of the culinary section of a 15th-century manuscript (the "Wagstaff Miscellany") in the Beinecke Library at Yale, taking into account other similar collections, with 189 Middle English recipes, and a "Culinary Commentary and Adapted Recipes."

Sixteenth-Seventeenth Century

Martha Washington's booke of cookery and booke of sweetmeats, transcribed by Karen Hess with historical notes and annotations. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981). *R-VT 94-8151. A scholarly and engaging work on the history of cooking, of language, and much else. The manuscript was in the possession of Martha Washington from 1749 to 1799, but the recipes are mostly from the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Sensible cook: Dutch foodways in the Old and the New World, translated and edited by Peter G. Rose. (Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 1989). JFE 92-1932. A translation, with introduction, bibliography, and glossary, of the 1683 Dutch classic De Verstandige Kock.

Eighteenth Century

[Glasse, Hannah].

The Art of cookery made plain and easy

, by a lady. (London, Prospect Books, 1983).

*KC+ 1747 (Glasse, H.) 85-177

(Rare Books and Manuscripts Division). First published 1747. A facsimile of the first edition, supplemented by recipes added up to the fifth edition; with introductory essays by Jennifer Stead and Priscilla Bain, glossary by Alan Davidson, notes, and index.

[Simmons, Amelia] American cookery. The first American cookbook; a facsimile of "American cookery," 1796. (New York: Dover Publications, 1984, c1958). JFD 94-13020.

Nineteenth Century

Fisher, Mrs. What Mrs. Fisher knows about old southern cooking: soups, pickles, preserves, etc.: in facsimile, with historical notes by Karen Hess. (Bedford, Mass: Applewood Books, 1995). JFC 95-1728. Presumably the first cookbook by an African-American woman, published in 1881.

The Jewish manual: or practical information in Jewish and modern cookery with a collection of valuable recipes & hints relating to the toilette, edited by a lady. (New York: NightinGale Books, 1983). *PVR 84-143 (Jewish Division). Original edition 1846. A facsimile, with an introduction by Chaim Raphael, of the first Jewish cookbook in English.

Lea, Elizabeth E. A Quaker woman's cookbook, edited with an introduction by William Woys Weaver. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982). JFE 94-8657. A facsimile of the 1853 edition of Elizabeth Ellicott Lea's Domestic cookery, useful receipts, and hints to young housekeepers; with a glossary and bibliography of published and unpublished sources.

Levy, Esther Jacobs. Jewish cookery book, on principles of economy. ( New York: Arno Press, 1975). *PVR 75-1037 (Jewish Division). Reprint of the 1871 edition of the first Jewish cookbook published in America.

Molokhovets, Elena. Podarok molodym khoziaikam. English. Classic Russian cooking: Elena Molokhovets' A gift to young housewives, translated, introduced and annotated by Joyce Toomre. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, c1992). JFF 93-2334. First published in 1861.

Randolph, Mary. The Virginia house-wife, Historical notes and commentaries by Karen Hess. (Columbia, S.C., University of South Carolina Press, c1984). *KF 1824 86-57 (Rare Books and Manuscripts Division). "A facsimile of the first edition, 1824, along with additional material from the editions of 1825 and 1828, thus presenting a complete text."

Other Sources of Historical Menus and Recipes

The researcher or cook in search of historical recipes can of course go directly to an historical cookbook: Scappi for 16th-century Italy, for example, or La Varenne for 17th- century France, Hannah Glasse for 18th-century Britain, Eliza Leslie for early 19th-century America. Some of the culinary histories listed above include recipes, as the facsimiles do. Increasing numbers of cookbooks adapt historical menus and dishes for the modern kitchen. A selective list of these, along with some originals, follows.

Apicius. De re coquinaria. English. The Roman cookery of Apicius: a treasury of gourmet recipes & herbal cookery translated and adapted for the modern kitchen. (Point Roberts, Wash., Hartley & Marks, 1984). *R-VT 94-8148.

Grigson, Jane. Food with the famous. (New York: Atheneum, 1980). JFE 91-5585. Through culinary history with John Evelyn, Jane Austen, Thomas Jefferson, Emile Zola, Marcel Proust, et al.

Hieatt, Constance B., Brenda Hosington, and Sharon Butler. Pleyn delit: medieval cookery for modern cooks. 2nd ed. (Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, c1996.) JFE 96-371.

Stewart, Katie. Cooking and eating: a pictorial history with recipes. (St. Albans, Hart-Davis MacGibbon, 1975). JFE 95-241. 111 historical recipes from Greek and Roman to a sprinkling of Middle Eastern, Indian and Chinese.

Vence, Celine, and Robert J. Courtine, comps. Les Grands maîtres de la cuisine française du Moyen Age à Alexandre Dumas. (Paris: Bordas, c1972). JFF 94-2869. The better known of the maîtres, from 1373 to 1873, are Taillevent; La Varenne; Bonnefons; Pierre de Lune; Massialot; La Chapelle; Marin; Menon; Beauvilliers; Viard; Carême; Gouffé; and Dumas.

Willan, Anne. Great cooks and their recipes: from Taillevent to Escoffier. (Boston: Little, Brown, c1992). JFF 93-530. From a baker's dozen of the "greats" in Western cooking. With a select bibliography and some annotations.

Wolfe, Linda. The literary gourmet: menus from masterpieces.(New York: Harmony Books, c1985). JFE 94-8252. The Bible, Cervantes, Virginia Woolf, et al.

The United States

Krondl, Michael.

Around the American table: treasured recipes and food traditions from the American cookery collections of the New York Public Library.

(Holbrook, Mass.: Adams Pub., 1995).

JFE 96-1618.

Informative as well as practical, with recipes dating from 1600 to 1955.

Old Sturbridge Village cookbook: authentic early American recipes for the modern kitchen, edited by Caroline Sloat. (Chester, Conn.: Globe Pequot Press, c1984). JFD 94-18512. Recipes adapted from The American frugal housewife (1829) by Lydia Maria Child.

Turgeon, Charlotte Snyder. Favorite meals from Williamsburg: a menu cookbook. (Williamsburg, Va.: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; New York: dist. by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, c1982). JFF 94-1937.

 

Filippini, Alessandro. The Table (various editions). (New York: C.L. Webster & Co. or Baker & Taylor Co., 18--). 1889, 1892, 1895 under VTI. 1890, 1891, and 1892 editions under *Z-6839 no. 4, *Z-6992 no. 5, and *Z-6875 respectively. A chef at Delmonico's, Filippini includes hundreds of "menus for every day."

Ranhofer, Charles. The Epicurean. (New York: C. Ranhofer). Editions of 1894 in VTI, with another copy in *Z-6837 no. 3; 1900 and 1916 in VTI+. Also a chef at Delmonico's, Ranhofer includes many menus from the restaurant.

Bibliographies

Most bibliographies of cookbooks and related subjects are located not in the reading room but in our book stacks, and are paged for readers. The following is a selective list.

Attar, Dena. A Bibliography of household books published in Britain 1800-1914. (London, Prospect Books, 1987). JFF 96-3292. Alphabetical arrangement within groupings, with subject, chronological and short-title indexes.

Axford, Lavonne Brady. English language cookbooks 1600-1973. (Detroit, Gale Research, 1976). JFF 95-316. Arranged by title with subject, author, chronological indexes. Over 10,000 entries.

Bitting, K.G. (Katherine Golden.) Gastronomic bibliography. (San Francisco: s.h., 1939). JFF 94-1559. Over 6,000 entries, still the standard one-volume bibliography in English.

Brown, Eleanor and Bob. Culinary Americana. (New York: Roving Eye Press, 1961). JFE 94-8217. Cookbooks published in the cities and towns of the U.S.A., 1860-1960. Chronological with author and title indexes.

Cagle, William R. A Matter of taste: A Bibliographical catalogue of the Gernon collection of books on food and drink. (New York: Garland, 1990). JFF 91-1. Arranged by country with author, title, subject and chronological indexes.

Cook, Margaret. America's charitable cooks: a bibliography of fundraising cook books published in the United States (1861-1915). (Kent, Ohio: s.n., 1971). JFE 94-8605. Arranged chronologically within state, with subject and short-title indexes.

Driver, Elizabeth. A Bibliography of cookery books published in Britain 1875-1914. (London: Prospect Books, 1989). JFF 90-747. Includes much incidental and biographical information.

Faccioli, Emilio, ed. Arte della cucina: libri de ricette testi sopra lo scalco, il trinciante e i vini del XIV al XIX secolo. (Milano: Ed. Il Polifilo, 1966). 2 vol. F-11 6238.

Gabler, James. Wine into words: a history and bibliography of wine books in the English language. (Baltimore, Bacchus Press, 1985). *RS-VTS 92-7797. With annotations.

Lowenstein, Eleanor. Bibliography of American cookery books 1742-1860. (Worcester, Mass.: American Antiquarian Society, 1972). JFE 92-3829 or*KAB 73-126 (Rare Books and Manuscripts Division). Also a union catalog, with library locations.

Maclean, Virginia. A Short-title catalogue of household and cookery books published in the English tongue 1701-1800. (London: Prospect Books, 1981). JFF 92-995 or *KAB 83-76 (Rare Books and Manuscripts Division). A union catalog with library locations, bibliography, chronological list, and selective subject index.

Newman, Jacqueline M. Chinese cookbooks: an annotated English language compendium/bibliography. (New York: Garland, 1987). JFD 94-18514.

Newman, Jacqueline M. Melting pot: an annotated bibliography and guide to food and nutrition information for ethnic groups in America. (New York: Garland, 1986). *RS-VT 93-9202 or JFD 94-12652.

Oxford, Arnold W. English cookery books to the year 1850. (London: H. Frowde, 1913). VTI. A chronological listing (and probable source of inspiration for the Library's Whitney collection).

Schoellhorn, Fritz. Bibliographie des Brauwesens. ([Einsiedeln, Schweiz: Verlagsanstalt Benziger & Co., A.-G.], c1928). VTR.

Schöne alte Kochbucher: Katalog der Kochbuchsammlung Erna Horn und Dr. Julius Arndt. (München: Pressler, 1982). JFE 94-9550.

Simon Palmer, Maria del Carmen. Bibliografía de la gastronomia española: notas para su realización. (Madrid: Velazquez, [1977]). JFE 95-5799.

Stark, Lewis M. The Whitney cookery collection. (New York: New York Public Library, 1959). F-10 3201 or *HND (N.Y.P.L.). A listing of the books and manuscripts given to The New York Public Library by Mrs. Helen Hay Whitney.

Unzelman, Gail G. Wine & gastronomy: a new short title bibliographic guide based on the André L. Simon Bibliothecas (i.e., André Simon's Bibliotheca bacchica, Bibliotheca gastronomica, and Bibliotheca vinaria). (Santa Rosa, Calif: Nomis Press, c1990). JFF 91-1661. Author, short title, and chronological indexes.

Vicaire, Georges. Bibliographie gastronomique. (Paris: P. Rouquette, 1890). JFE 94-8213. A comprehensive bibliography for Western, especially French language, cookbooks prior to its publication date.

Weiss, Hans U. Gastronomia: eine Bibliographie der deutschsprachigen Gastronomie 1485-1914. (Zürich: Bibliotheca Gastronomica, 1996.) JFF 97-2212. Author, title, subject and geographical indexes.

The Menu Collection

The New York Public Library's 25,000-piece historical menu collection is held by the Rare Books Division. Strongest for the period 1890-1920, the collection is for the present arranged chronologically only. Further details and information about access may be obtained at the Information Desk in the General Research Division's Reading Room. Some secondary sources on menu design will be found in the Art and Architecture Collection. Some other sources, in the General Research Division, are as follows:

Alejandro, Reynaldo. Classic menu design, from the collection of The New York Public Library. (Glen Cove, New York: PBC International, 1988). Pub. Cat. 92-15459. Based on the Buttolph Collection and organized as it was by categories such as "Organizations" and "VIPs and VIP Occasions," with menus dating from 1842 to 1901.

Menus historiques. (Den Haag: Osmar B.V., 1982). JFG 92-257. The menus range in date from 1853 to 1979. Most captions in Dutch, with a brief foreword in English/French/German/ Dutch.

Mordacq, Philippe. Le menu: une histoire illustrée de 1751 à nos jours. (Paris: R. Laffont, 1989). JFG 90-551. Organized by categories with a section on menus d'artiste, this selection is drawn from European and American sources, including private collections. Captions include locations.

Computerized Catalogs and Periodical Indexes

Mainstream periodicals on food, beverages, and cooking are indexed in Periodical Abstracts and Reader's Guide Abstracts on the Library's networked computers. Other useful networked indexes include America: History and Life and Historical Abstracts. The French database for humanities, social sciences and economics, FRANCIS, is also available. The networked union catalogs, WorldCat, help to locate culinary collections, including manuscripts, at other libraries in the U.S. and Canada. Some specialized periodicals such as Petits Propos Culinaires are not indexed commercially but may have separately published indexes. The same is generally true of conference and symposia proceedings.

Selected Internet Sites

Beverages | Cookery | Food | General Resources | International | Menu Collections | Organizations | Recipes

Beverages

atime4wine.com
Wine-tasting notes from "non-experts". The wineries are in the area of Northern California.

History of Beer
This site describes the history of beer, brewing process, various styles including homemade and specialty beers, brewpubs, and cooking with beer.

Tasting Wine
"Everything about wine tasting: wine terms, vintage charts, food and wine, serving wine, tasting wine, wine glasses, and more. . ."

The History of Cider
Information on the origins of cider,its production, the cider regions of the world, and its current popularity.

The History of Whiskey
Site provides information on the origins of whiskey, its production around the world, the methods of distillation, and the differences among various types and characters.

WineCountry.com
Information about wineries in the California wine regions,as well as coverage of Virginia, New York, Oregon, Washington, and Texas.

Cookery

About produce.com
Information and recipes for vegetables, fruits, nuts, and herbs. Searchable.

Ingredient Substitutions
Provides substitution suggestions from food professionals for ingredients such as butter, eggs, and flour.

Joy of Baking
Site contains information on home baking, including recipes, videos, a glossary, a conversion chart, and a bibliography.

Seafood Lover's Guide
The Audubon Society's Living Ocean site "helps you become more familiar with the fish and shellfish you buy so that you can make choices toward better managed selections. The buying power of consumers can create a market environment that encourages sustainable seafood and abundance in the seas."

Wild About Mushrooms: The Cookbook of the Mycological Society of San Francisco
Online reprint of a 1987 book.

Food

Food Museum
This site highlights "food exhibits, nes/issues, resources, food history, answers to your food questions, book reviews and just plain fun."

General Resources

A Culinary History Timeline
A look at social history, manners and menus through history. A companion site to the Food Timeline.

A Food Timeline
The origins and food and ingredients. A companion site to the Culinary History Timeline.

Culinary History: A Research Guide to the Collections of The New York Public Library

Epicurious Food
A searchable database of over 5,000 recipes, restaurant and cookbook reviews, suggestions for the year's holiday cooking, and classic advice from James Beard and Fannie Farmer.

Exploring Chocolate
A look at the history of chocolate, the chocolate-making process, and a visit to a chocolate factory in this exhibit from the Exploratorium.

Medieval/Renaissance Food
A selection of primary sources, recipes, and bibliographies on the food of the Middle Ages. A labor of love.

New York Food Museum
Browse the wonderful online exhibit How New York Ate 100 Years Ago.

The History of Eating Utensils
Knives, chopsticks, forks and spoons. From the Rietz Food Technology Collection, housed in the Anthropology Department, California Academy of Sciences.

International

(Africa) African Cookbook: Menus and Recipes from Africa

(Armenia) Cuisine of Ancient Armenia: Dining at Noah's Table
Recipes, information about the historical context of Armenian food, and a glossary of terms.

(Asia) Asia Food
Searchable collection of recipes from Charmaine Solomon's "Encyclopedia of Asian Food."

(Asia) AsiaRecipe.Com
Hundreds of recipes from 24 Asian nations.

(Italy) Italian Recipes for Lent
Metaless recipes for antipasto, soup, pasta, gnocchi, fish, vegetables and fruit.

(Japan) Sushi Links
"Sushi Links offers the best sushi resources on the web, as well as information on the history of sushi, pointers on sushi etiquette, and answers to frequently asked questions concerning sushi. You'll also find links to web sites that offer a wide assortment of sushi recipes."

Menu Collections

City College of San Francisco, Alice Statler Libary Menu Collection
An overview of the Menu Collection at the Alice Statler Library. Images of some of the menus are available.

Cornell University, The Nestle Library, Menu Collection
A database of the menus held in the Rare Menu Collection, as well as a description of the collection. Images of actual menus are available.

Los Angeles Public Library, Menu Collection
http://dbase1.lapl.org/pages/menus.htm
A database of the menus held in the Rare Books Division of the Los Angeles Public Library. Images of actual menus are available.

Menu Collection of the New York Public Library
"As part of its extensive resources related to cookery, food, beverages and culinary history, The New York Public Library owns one of the world's largest historical collections of menus--over 25,000--held in the Rare Books Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library."

New York City Technical College, Ursula C. Schwerin Library
This is a description of the menu collection found in the Ursula Schwerin Library.

University of South Florida, Florida Menu Collection
A finding aid to the Florida Menu Collection.

Organizations

American Culinary Federation Chef and Child Foundation, Inc.
This non-profit organization's "mission is to educate and assist the family in understanding proper nutrition and to be the voice of the American Culinary Federation in its fight against Childhood hunger."

International Dutch Oven Society (IDOS)
"The International Dutch Oven Society is a non-profit organization based in Logan, Utah. Our primary mission is to promote and encourage the art and skill of Dutch oven cooking, and to provide education regarding the benefits and methods of Dutch oven cooking."

Recipes

A & W American Recipe Collection
Signature dishes of the fifty states, submitted by each governor.