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Manuscript Recipe Book collection, 1793-1959 (majority within 19th century)

28 volumes

This collection comprises 28 American manuscript recipe books dated from 1793 to 1959 with the bulk dating from the nineteenth century. One of the books contains portions in German, while the rest are in English. Most regions of the United States are present, with the Northeast and Southern States best represented. Desserts represent the bulk of the recipes, cakes being the most popular. Some recipes include attributes to friends, family, or cookbooks, and some contain notes on quality of the dish. Directions for making medicinal remedies and practical household needs (such as cleaning product recipes or advice on fabric care) may also be included. Many volumes contain handwritten or printed inserts.

This collection comprises 28 American manuscript recipe books dated from 1793 to 1959 with the bulk dating from the nineteenth century. One of the books contains portions in German, while the rest are in English. Most regions of the United States are present, with the Northeast and Southern States best represented. Desserts represent the bulk of the recipes cakes being the most popular. Some recipes include attributes to friends, family, or cookbooks, and some contain notes on quality of the dish. Directions for making medicinal remedies and practical household needs (such as cleaning product recipes or advice on fabric care) may also be included. Many volumes contain handwritten or printed inserts.

All or most of the known authors of these recipe books appear to be by women. A man, James Campbell, authored the accounting portion of the Campbell receipt book and a male writer may have created the Manuscript Recipe Book, [1838]. Emma Hinricks Hilken is the only one known to have resided outside the United States when writing her recipe book (she resided in Frankfurt, Germany, for several years following her marriage). The women range in age from teenagers to the elderly and represent a variety of social backgrounds. Most of the recipe books were written or compiled in the second half of the nineteenth century, with some extending into the early twentieth. Approximately one-fifth of them were written in the first half of the nineteenth century or earlier.

See the box and folder listing below for a complete descriptive list of the recipe books present in this collection.

Container

Susan F. Berry Recipe Book, 1793-1850 ; Salem, Massachusetts (M-4159)

Volume : Berry 1793-1850
One volume (156 pages) containing mercantile arithmetic, Federal and English money tables, recipes, and technical terms for painting. Weights and measures table for alcohol, cloth, and apothecaries weights. Recipes included are for Governor Strong's loaf cake, Sally Lunn tea cake, syllabub, hartshorn jelly, paste (puff pastry), damson preserves, and wine caudle. Practical instructions include how to kill cockroaches. Several recipes on paper inserts including Bride's cake and plum cake with frosting. Attributions include The Virginia Housewife by Mary Randolph.
In: Manuscript Recipe Book collection, 1793-1959 (majority within 19th century)Manuscript Recipe Book Collection, 1793-1959 (majority within 19th century)
Container

Anna Sitgreaves Blair Recipe Book, 1872-1930 ; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (M-4503)

Volume : Blair 1872-1930
One volume recipe book(157 pages), indexed by type of dish. Many recipes are attributed to friends or family. Types of dishes include eggs, fish, meats, sauces and gravies, soups, vegetables, desserts, cakes, preserves, sundries, and salads. Dishes include, gnocchi, curry, Hungarian goulash, brandy peach (Heath peach), baked calf's head, imitation terrapin, pineapple marmalade, arrowroot custard, and sabayon. Also many pudding recipes. Includes many paper inserts with handwritten recipes, including one in French. Several remedies for illnesses listed. Weights and measures listed in the back.
In: Manuscript Recipe Book collection, 1793-1959 (majority within 19th century)Manuscript Recipe Book Collection, 1793-1959 (majority within 19th century)
Container

Marian [T.] Blake Recipe Book, 1897-1907 ; [Massachusetts] (M-4322)

Volume : Blake 1897-1907
One volume recipe book (162 pages) with mix of handwritten and pasted-in newspaper clippings with recipes and on household maintenance. Attributions for many recipes. Several newspaper recipes noted as from Boston Cooking School. Listed dishes include watermelon frappe, potted meat, Welsh rarebit, and citron cake. Suggested menus, potpourri recipe, and marketing notes also included.
In: Manuscript Recipe Book collection, 1793-1959 (majority within 19th century)Manuscript Recipe Book Collection, 1793-1959 (majority within 19th century)
Container

Isabella Boyd Recipe Book, 1868-1883 ; Newburgh, New York (M-4887.1)

Volume : Boyd 1868-1883
One volume recipe book (33 pages) containing numerous newspaper clippings, featuring recipes, etiquette advice, and announcements (marriage, death, estates). Last few pages contain notes from 1876 to 1883 chronicling children's milestones. Recipes include cakes (bemall, Queen Charlotte's, Johnny, coconut cup) and breads (corn, ginger, brown). Additional dishes are oyster stew, caramels, tomato catsup, and Indian pudding.
In: Manuscript Recipe Book collection, 1793-1959 (majority within 19th century)Manuscript Recipe Book Collection, 1793-1959 (majority within 19th century)
Container

James Campbell Receipt Book and Anonymous Recipe Book, 1832-1842 , 1883 ; [Wilmington?] (M-4222)

Volume : Campbell 1832-1842, 1883
This single volume, consisting of 94 written pages and a blank middle section, includes a receipt book and recipe book. The receipt book is for a James Campbell and his payments on accounts (103 total receipts) to various people spanning the years 1832 to 1842. The second half of the volume contains 56 recipes written by unknown authors (three hands evident). Most have attributions to friends, relatives, and other personages such as "Clara," "Mary Shields," and "Friend Gibbon's receipt book." Dishes include amber pudding, milk soup, oyster salad and Irish stew. One paper insert dated August 31, 1883 contains recipes for cold tomato catsup and cucumber pickles.
In: Manuscript Recipe Book collection, 1793-1959 (majority within 19th century)Manuscript Recipe Book Collection, 1793-1959 (majority within 19th century)
Container

Washington Sarah Dunkin Cookery and Confectionary Book, [ca. 1830s], 1869 ; Charleston, South Carolina (M-4555)

Volume : Dunkin 1869
One volume, with 62 pages of recipes. Recipes of note include chicken pie with oysters and chestnuts, jugged hare or rabbit, Baltimore breakfast rolls, calf's head stewed turtle fashion, York biscuit, Federal cake, Liberty cake, carrot pudding, and Indian pudding. The "Cookery Book" section is mostly meats and vegetables recipes and the "Confectionary" section is mainly desserts and baking recipes. Letter addressed to Mrs. B.F. Dunkin, c/o Hon. B.F. Dunkin, Charleston, So. Car. addressed to Grandma from T. Pinckney Alston, Newburgh, January 31, 1869. Five glazed cotton flower cutouts tucked within pages. Several newspaper recipe clippings pasted on cover.
In: Manuscript Recipe Book collection, 1793-1959 (majority within 19th century)Manuscript Recipe Book Collection, 1793-1959 (majority within 19th century)
File

Georgia and South Carolina Recipe Book and Scrapbook, 1850s-1880s ; s.l. (M-5005)

Volume : Georgia 1850s-1880s
Large (41 x 26 cm) one-volume scrapbook, with eight folder of loose recipes, papers about household products, and advice. The loose materials were detached from the book prior to its arrival at the Clements Library. The volume was originally used as a check book for the Augusta, Georgia, branch of the Bank of the United States. Possibly family of Colonel James Edward Calhoun. Mix of handwritten instructions and clippings from newspapers pasted on pages with handwritten notes written on opposite pages. Handwritten note with folder, dated 1989 explaining contents.
In: Manuscript Recipe Book collection, 1793-1959 (majority within 19th century)Manuscript Recipe Book Collection, 1793-1959 (majority within 19th century)
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