Recipes books themselves are information objects lesser known to the general public, thus making it difficult to learn about them and where they can be accessed. On this website you will find a list of institutions that hold recipe books in their collections. The location of these institutions and whether the collection has been digitized will be noted. Ease of access is a priority of this project and thus digitized collections will be highlighted.

Though similar to the structure of the modern cookbook, Early Modern recipe books are distinct in meaningful ways and are best appreciated when there is a baseline understanding of how they organize information. In their most basic form, recipe books are part textbook and part diary. They instruct the user in medical, culinary, and magical pursuits while also revealing information about the authors, their community, and the availability of resources. Recipe books are evidence of a collaborative knowledge-creation and knowledge-sharing process that is unlike most contemporary knowledge organization systems. An overview of three recipe books allows for analysis of specific elements of this system and insight into the overarching themes in ways of knowing and knowledge organization.

Early Modern culture permeates every aspect of a recipe book’s content, from language to what was considered common knowledge for that time. While some of it is easily decipherable thanks to consistencies with contemporary knowledge, much of it isn’t. For example, the alphabet used in Early Modern Britain included letters such as the ‘y’ iteration of the letter ‘thorn’, often seen as ‘þ’ in Old Norse. Thus, one might read ‘ye’ as ‘ye’ rather than the correct ‘the’. The resources provided under the interpretation section are made available to assist with expanding one’s understanding of the Early Modern alphabet, grammar, measurements, and ingredient names. You will find information from other websites and books noted under those headings, however, glossaries of these terms as identified in the featured recipe books are also included.