Salt and Fishery, a Discourse Thereof Insisting on the Following Heads... / John Collins / London / Printed by Godbid and J. Playford / 1682 / Book ━━━━━━━━ The oldest book in this exhibit, it describes how to make different types of salt from various parts of England, such as Cheshire salt and Newcastle salt. It also discusses fishing and provides related recipes.

Beeton's Every-day Cookery and Housekeeping Book: a Practical and Useful Guide for all Mistresses and Servants / Isabella Mary Beeton / Approximately 1800 ━━━━━━━━ Famous English journalist and writer, Isabella Mary Beeton (nee Mayson) (March 14, 1836 – February 6, 1865), was more colloquially known as Mrs. Beeton. In 1860, her husband, Samuel Beeton, founded Beeton’s Christmas Annual. This was the very publication in which Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic character, Sherlock Holmes, first appeared in the “A Study in Scarlet.” While Beeton’s book continues to be an authority on Victorian cooking and practices, many of the recipes were actually copied from other successful cookbooks of the time, such as that of predecessor Eliza Acton (April 17, 1799 – February 13, 1859). Mrs. Beeton did, however, add her own twist, including some interesting takes on certain foods. In her opinion: “mangoes tasted like turpentine”; “garlic was offensive”; and “lobster was indigestible.”

La cuisinière bourgeoise: précédée d'un manuel prescrivant les devoirs qu'ont à remplir les personnes qui se destinent à entrer en service dans les maisons bourgeoises. / Augustin Germain, / Libraire Menon, 18th century / 1825 / Book ━━━━━━━━ Originally published in 1746, this is a revised third edition. The title roughly translates to "The bourgeois cook: prefaced by a manual describing the essential duties of those who intend to enter service in a bourgeois household". It was a handbook for potential servants of “bourgeois” households. In this time period, that word referred to the “middle class.”

The Frugal Housewife’s Manual / A.B. of Grimsby Guardian Office / 1840 / Hardcover book ━━━━━━━━ This book contains recipes adapted for families, as well as tips for growing, maintaining, and preserving vegetables. It provides tangible examples of menu planning and of how households were run.

Every Lady’s Book: an Instructor in the Art of Making Every Variety of Plain and Fancy Cakes, Pastry, Confectionery, Blancmange, Jellies, Ice Creams, and Other Useful Information for Ordinary and Holiday Occasions / A Lady / Printed and Published by A. Davidson at the Niagara Mail Office / 1846 / Book ━━━━━━━━ During the 19th century, women authors were rarely credited for their work. Since this author is listed simply as "A Lady", we may never know who the actual author of this work was. The book features recipes and tips for both experienced and novice cooks and bakers: “What is termed in these receipts a quick oven, is one in which you could hold your hand no longer, than to count to twenty-five; in a slow oven you could hold your hand to count thirty. Any person accustomed to baking would not require the above rules.” (page 8) (Note: "receipts", here used for the modern word “recipes”, was recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary with this definition: “A formula or preparation made according to a formula. Now generally superseded in this branch by recipe n.” The earliest recorded usage was in 1398.)

Food for Babes; or, Artificial Human Milk, and the Manner of Preparing it and Administering it to Young Children / William Cumming, M. D. / Globe Printing Company / 1867 / Book ━━━━━━━━ This 1867 book analyzes the ideal ratios of the nutrients in human milk, and suggests an alternative made of butter, casein (a protein found in milk), sugar and water. The author examines the math, and describes a method to break down cow's milk into a nutritionally sound substitute for human milk.

Some Valuable Recipes for Canning Fruits and Vegetables / T. Eaton Company, Canada / Approximately 1915 / Booklet ━━━━━━━━ Food preservation, before the advent and popularization of refrigeration, was an essential household skill. This booklet contains valuable tips and tricks on how to preserve various fruits and vegetables. It’s also an advertisement for the T. Eaton Company, where families could buy the necessary equipment.

The Dominion Cook Book / Anne Clarke / George J. McLeod Publisher / 1899 / Hardcover book ━━━━━━━━ The extended title of this book is "The Dominion Cook Book: Containing Valuable Recipes in all the Departments, including Sickroom Cookery." Anne Clarke, also known as Mrs. George K. M. Clarke, was born in about 1846. She lived in Toronto.