Leeds University Library's Cookery Collection
Leeds University Library's Cookery Collection is one of the five Designated collections held by the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. It comprises an extensive collection of international books, manuscripts and archives relating to food, cooking and culinary culture.
The collection began with a donation in 1939 to the Library of 1,500 books and a selection of manuscripts. The collection has grown since then and has been supplemented with further donations over time. It now consists of more than 8,000 printed cookery books and 75 manuscripts, spanning the period of 2500 BC to present day, with the majority of the works being from the early 16th – 20th century.
In addition to recipes and cookery books, the collection includes texts about food production, household management, brewery, gardening and the medicinal uses of food.
Numerous food historians have used the Cookery Collection to inform their research and publications. The Cookery Collection is located in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library, University of Leeds.
Designation
The Cookery Collection was awarded Designation status in 2005 by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. The Designation Scheme is a mark of distinction which recognises collections in non-national institutions of outstanding national and international importance for users. The scheme is now administered by Arts Council England.The Cookery Collection is one of five Designated collections held by Special Collections at Leeds University Library. It is the only library to hold as many as five Designated collections.
History
Overview
The Cookery Collection encompasses a series of collections from different origins which have been acquired by the Brotherton Library over time and are now grouped together by the subject of cookery as a single collection group.Blanche Legat Leigh's donation
The Cookery Collection at Special Collections in the Brotherton Library began in 1939 when Blanche Legat Leigh, the Lady Mayoress of Leeds, donated her 1,500 printed books and some manuscript volumes to the Library. The majority of these books were British, French and Italian cookery books dating from the early 16th century to 1930. An item of note from Leigh’s collection is a first edition of Mrs Beeton’s 'Book of Household Management' with a letter inserted in it written to Leigh from Mrs Beeton’s son, Sir Mayson Beeton. Leigh’s donation included her correspondence with book owners, now held in Special Collections’ archives.John Preston's donation
In 1954 some of the books from Blanche Leigh’s collection were displayed in an exhibition titled Cookery Books 1500–1954 held in Times Bookshop in London. John F Preston was also displaying his collection at this exhibition and consequently became interested in Leeds University Library’s collection. In 1962 he presented his collection to the Library of over 600 English cookery books from 1584–1861.Later donations
In the 1980s the Camden Public Library in London was running low on adequate space to hold their collection of books on food and drink. Their cookery books were advertised and as a result were rehomed in the Brotherton Library. The books spanned 1900–1975 and filled a period that was until then lacking in the Library’s Cookery Collection.The Cookery Collection was recognised as an outstanding collection and accredited Designation status in 2005. Since then, the collection has continued to grow with more donations.
A few years after the death in 2006 of Michael Bateman, the food writer and journalist, Leeds University Library received his collection of international cookery books in 2011. Special Collections also holds an archive of his papers from his career as a food writer.
Previously held Collections
Some material which was already held by the Brotherton Library and related to cookery has since been associated with the Cookery Collection in the interest of strengthening the subject. For example, Alfred Chaston Chapman’s collection of books about beer and brewery was donated to Leeds University Library in 1939.New acquisitions
The Cookery Collection at Leeds University Library is still being added to and augmented with new acquisitions. Leeds University Library is currently collecting manuscripts about cookery or medicinal remedies with a regional focus. More generally, Leeds University Library aims to collect titles which are not already represented in the Cookery Collection.Collections and highlights
The Cookery Collection has been catalogued in two distinct groups: Cookery Manuscripts and Cookery Printed Books. The Cookery Printed Books collection has been split into several series and sub-collections. These include Cookery A: British books, Cookery B: French books, Cookery C: Chinese books, Cookery D: books from other cultures. Later donations, such as from [|Michael Bateman and Camden Library], are also grouped in separate series. The following items are some of the most notable pieces in the Cookery Collection. The headings indicate which sub-collection or series each item is catalogued under.Ancient texts
In Blanche Leigh’s original 1939 donation to Leeds University Library was a Babylonian clay tablet dating approximately 2500 BC. This Middle Eastern tablet was once used a receipt for barley with ancient cuneiform script marks. It is on permanent display in the Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery.Cookery A, British printed cookery books
Cookery A consists of British printed cookery books. Among the major works held are four copies of Hannah Woolley’s The Queen-Like Closet. The earliest edition is from 1672. Woolley was one of the first women in England to have earned a living from writing and selling books. There are two copies of Pomona: or the Fruit Garden Illustrated written by the English garden designer, Batty Langley; the book is a gardener's manual for growing, picking and preserving fruits, as well as pruning and caring for plants. Charles Carter's The Complete Practical Cook : or, a new system of the whole art and mystery of cookery is an illustrated recipe book. It contains copperplate engravings showing how to set and arrange a table for various courses in an 18th-century dinner. Charles Carter cooked for nobility and specialised in French baroque cuisine., by Hannah Glasse
The Cookery Collection holds several different editions of The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse, first published in 1747. This book was a best seller for more than one hundred years and was written to help instruct servants in the preparing of meals. In the collection there are also four copies of The Forme of Cury, a compilation from about 1390 of medieval recipes written by the cooks of Richard II and then edited and published by Samuel Pegge in 1780. It is one of the oldest known English cookery manuscripts.
In the Cookery Collection there are multiple copies of one of the earliest health and safety conscious food books, Friedrich Christian Accum’s A Treatise on Adulterations of Food and Culinary Poisons. The text provides instructions about how to identify dangerous additives in common foods and raises awareness about the dishonest practices of food sellers who use adulterated food to increase sales.
Eliza Acton’s Modern Cookery, in all its Branches: Reduced to a System of Easy Practice, for the use of Private Families was first published in 1845 and a number of editions are in the Cookery Collection at Leeds. Acton was extremely influential because she was the first cookery book writer to list the ingredients needed in a recipe and to note how long a dish takes to cook - an innovation which has become a standard feature of modern recipes.
The Cookery Collection is home to seven copies of the Victorian best seller, Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management; Comprising Information for the Mistress'', edited by Mrs Beeton and first published in 1861. The book is a collection of recipes and advice for women about conducting their housekeeping duties. It was an enormous commercial success and sold 2 million copies by 1868.
Cookery D, foreign printed cookery books
The Cookery D collection contains a large number of printed cookery books from Italy as well as a number other countries. For example, Opera di Bartolomeo Scappi is an illustrated Italian cook book with recipes and images of kitchen utensils. The author is Bartolomeo Scappi, renowned renaissance chef, who cooked for Pope Pius IV and Pope Pius V in the Vatican kitchen.Cookery D also contains the one incunabulum in the Cookery Collection, which the Library received from Blanche Leigh's donation. Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum is a poem which offers the reader a health regime and advice about keeping a good diet. For example, it recommends not eating too much. The exact date of the copy in the Cookery Collection is unknown but it is thought to be post 1500 and is cited in The British Library's Incunabula Short Title Catalogue. The printer Bernardino dei Vitali was active from 1494 to 1539.
Cookery Camden donation
Among [|Camden Public Library's donation] of 20th century cookery books to Leeds University Library were many works by the influential cookery writer, Elizabeth David. In her first cook book, A Book of Mediterranean Food, she reintroduced more exotic ingredients – such as figs, garlic and olive oil – that had been absent from British cooking during the war.Chaston Chapman brewing donation
[|Alfred Chaston Chapman] was a chemist with a specialist interest in fermentation and brewing. He was president of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling from 1911 to 1913. In 1939 his widow donated to Leeds University Library his collection of books which cover the history of brewing, winemaking, the legality of alcohol and drinking in society. Some titles in his collection include: The Anatomy of Drunkenness, The History and Science of Drunkenness and Oxford Night Caps: Being a Collection of Receipts for Making Various Beverages Used in the University.Cookery Manuscripts
Individual manuscript volumes in the Cookery Collection have been grouped in the archive collection, Cookery Manuscripts. There are 75 items spanning the period 1561–2000 and covering the subjects of cookery, household management and medicinal remedies. Some of these manuscripts were part of Blanche Leigh and John Preston’s original donations to Leeds University Library but there are also more recent acquisitions.Research and outreach
Research Topics
The Cookery Collection at Leeds University Library has proved to be an insightful research resource for scholars.- Cookery books are sources for attitudes, practices, trade and linguistics from a range of historical periods. Thus the study of the Cookery Collection's early cook books can shed light on the social and economic characteristics of past societies.
- Cookery books can also offer insight into a society’s political climate. Conflicts and wars effect the availability of ingredients. As the British Empire expanded, the English cookery book used new dishes, foods and spices. These changes can be observed in the Cookery Collection at Leeds University Library.
- The illustrations in cook books held in the Cookery Collection form an outlet for study. Etchings and engravings reflect evolving practices in printing and the book industry.
- Studies of the history of medicine have been informed by the Cookery Collection at Leeds University Library because many of the books discuss nutrition, health and the medicinal uses of food.
- In many cases the Cookery Collection at Leeds University Library holds long sequences of editions of outstanding works by popular authors such as Mrs Beeton and Hannah Glasse. These long runs and multiple copies mean that a text’s development across editions can be studied. Innovations and changes in the book and printing industry can also be observed.
- Other focuses of the Cookery Collection include British cooking, French cooking, Chinese cooking, gardening, beer and brewery and wine and wine-making.
Historians
Anne Wilson was a member of staff at the Brotherton Library and catalogued the [|Preston donation] to the Leeds University Library Cookery Collection in 1964. This inspired her interest in food history. She went on to found the Leeds Symposium on Food History in 1986. Thus the Brotherton Library’s Cookery Collection was integral to the establishment of the Symposium. The Leeds Symposium has held annual meetings for the discussion of food history and the presentation of papers since 1986.
Anne Wilson wrote Food and Drink in Britain which draws on the Cookery Collection's early cook books.
She wrote The Book of Marmalade which was published in 1985. In it, she cites the Cookery Collection:
"Most of the older recipe books consulted are among those in the Blanche Leigh and John F Preston collections of early cookery books in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds."
Anne Wilson edited Luncheon, Nuncheon and Other Meals: Eating with the Victorians and The Country Kitchen Garden 1600–1950. Both of these books mention the Brotherton Library’s Cookery Collection in their acknowledgements.
Eileen White is a food historian specialising in domestic English cookery in the 15th and 16th centuries.
White edited and contributed to The English Cookery Book: Historical Essays, based on papers from the 16th Leeds Symposium on Food History held in March 2001. The book celebrates the Cookery Collection at Leeds University Library and pays tribute to its value for researchers. All the illustrations in the book are taken from the Brotherton Library’s collection.
White also edited Feeding a City: York and The English Kitchen: Historical Essays, which also acknowledge the Brotherton Library’s Cookery Collection.
In 2003 White wrote Soup in which she acknowledges "The collection of cookery books in the Brotherton Library at Leeds University has given me access to a wide range of original sources."
Peter Brears, Lynette Hunter and Jennifer Stead are other food historians who have consulted the Cookery Collection at Leeds University Library and contributed essays to the Leeds Symposium on Food History publications.
Cecilia Leong-Salobir cites "The Cookery Collection, Leeds University Library" as source in the acknowledgments for her book, The Food Culture in Colonial Asia: A Taste of Empire, Routledge, 2011.
In books
- A Descriptive Guide to the Libraries of the University of Leeds, Richard Offor, Brotherton Library: Offor describes Blanche Leigh's donation in detail, including the Babylonian tablet and the works of Hannah Glasse and Mrs Beeton.
- The English Cookery Book: Historical Essays, edited by Eileen White, Prospect Books: In the Preface to this publication, Eileen White writes: "The existence of the Leeds Symposium on Food History is due to the large and varied collection of cookery books in the Brotherton Library. These books are a rich resource, not only for cooks, and deserve to be celebrated." In the third chapter of this book, Anne Wilson discusses the Cookery Collection at the Brotherton Library in great depth. She gives an account of its history, the range of topics it covers and the research that it has informed.
- Secret Leeds by John Edwards, David Marsh, Christopher Allen, Amberley Publishing Limited: This book investigates the city of Leeds and highlights its fascinating features, including the Cookery Collection at University of Leeds. It discusses the history of the collection, its structure and composition as well as some of its notable, bizarre and interesting items.
- International Dictionary of Library Histories, ed. By David H. Stam, Routledge: In this reference book Stam cites cookery as a subject strength and area of concentration for the University of Leeds Libraries. He discusses the history of the Cookery Collection shows that it has been augmented with further donations overtime.
- Directory of Rare Books and Special Collections in the UK and Republic of Ireland, Ed by. Karen Attar, Facet Publishing: This book recognizes the Cookery Collection at Leeds University Library and discusses its contributions from Blanche Leigh, John Preston, Michael Bateman as well as the brewery collection of Chaston Chapman.
Access
A selection of pieces in the Cookery Collection have been photographed and digitised.
Researchers can consult the Cookery Collection in person by visiting the reading room in Special Collections at the Brotherton Library, University of Leeds.