View source for Leeds University Library's Cookery Collection

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox library
| name               = UoL Library: Cookery Collection
| image              = <!-- file name only (no Image: or File:) -->
| country            = United Kingdom
| type               = Archives, rare books, manuscripts
| scope              = 
| established        = 1939
| location           =The [[Brotherton Library]], Leeds
| coordinates        = 
| branch_of          = Special Collections, University of Leeds Library
| items_collected    = Printed cookery books, cookery manuscripts from approximately  16th – 21st century (with one item from 2500 BC)
| collection_size    = Over 9,000 items 
| criteria           = Cookery, recipes, food history, food production, household management, medicinal uses of food, brewing, gardening 
| req_to_access      = Visit Special Collections, Brotherton Library - request items in advance
| website            = [https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-cookery-collection Special Collections: Cookery Collection ] 
}}

'''Leeds University Library's Cookery Collection''' is one of the five [[Designation Scheme|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 and been supplemented with further donations. It now consists of more than 8,000 printed cookery books and 75 manuscripts, spanning the period 2500 BC to present day, with the majority of the works from the early 16th–20th century.<ref name="'Also of Interest', Cookery Printed Books">{{cite web|title='Also of Interest', Cookery Printed Books|url=https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/43229/cookery_printed_books|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref>

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 Scheme|Designation]] status in 2005 by the [[Museums, Libraries and Archives Council]].<ref name="Designated Outstanding Collections">{{cite web|title=Designated Outstanding Collections (Pg 45)|url=http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/download-file/Designated_Outstanding_collections.pdf|website=Arts Council England|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref> The Designation Scheme is a mark of distinction which recognises collections in non-national institutions of outstanding national and international importance for users.<ref name="Designation Scheme">{{cite web|title=Designation Scheme|url=http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/supporting-collections-and-archives/designation-scheme|website=Arts Council England|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Designated Outstanding Collections"/> It is the only library to hold five Designated collections.<ref name="CENDARI">{{cite web|title=Leeds University Library|url=https://archives.cendari.dariah.eu/index.php/leeds-university-library|website=CENDARI|publisher=Collaborative European Digital Archive Infrastructure|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Overview ===

The Cookery Collection encompasses a series of collections from different origins acquired by the Brotherton Library and grouped together by the subject of cookery as a single collection group.<ref name="Cookery Collections Guide">{{cite web|title=Cookery Collections Guide|url=https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-cookery-collection|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="The English Cookery Book">{{cite book|last1=White|first1=Eileen|title=The English Cookery Book: Historical Essays|date=2004|publisher=Prospect Books|isbn=1-90301836-6|pages=6–27|url=http://prospectbooks.co.uk/img/EnglishCookeryBook.pdf|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref>

=== 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.<ref name="Secret Leeds">{{cite book|last1=Edwards|first1=John |display-authors=etal |title=Secret Leeds|date=2017|publisher=Amberley Publishing|isbn=9781445655130|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vBjwDQAAQBAJ&q=cookery+collection+leeds|accessdate=5 April 2017|ref=Secret Leeds}}</ref> The majority of these books were British, French and Italian cookery books dating from the early 16th century to 1930.<ref name="The English Cookery Book"/> An item of note from Leigh's collection is a first edition of [[Mrs Beeton]]’s ''[[Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management|''Book of Household Management'']]'' with a letter inserted in it written to Leigh from Mrs Beeton’s son, Sir Mayson Beeton.<ref>{{cite web|title=Beeton Inserted Letter|url=http://lib.leeds.ac.uk/record=b1808715|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref> Leigh’s donation included her correspondence with book owners held in Special Collections’ archives.<ref name="Correspondence with booksellers">{{cite web|title=Leigh's Correspondence with Booksellers|url=https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/5969|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref>

=== 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 the Times Bookshop in London. John F Preston was also displaying his collection at this exhibition and became interested in Leeds University Library's collection. In 1962 he presented his collection to the Library of over 600 [[English cookery]] books dating from 1584 to 1861.<ref name="The English Cookery Book"/><ref name="Monday Library Chat">{{cite web|title=Monday Library Chat|url=http://recipes.hypotheses.org/7481|website=The Recipes Project|publisher=Open Edition|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref>

=== Later donations ===

In the 1980s the Camden Public Library in London was finding it difficult to allocate adequate space to their collection of books on food and drink. Their cookery books were advertised and acquired by the Brotherton Library. The books spanned 1900–1975 expanding the historical coverage of the Library's Cookery Collection.<ref name="The English Cookery Book"/><ref name="Monday Library Chat"/>

After the death in 2006 of [[Michael Bateman]], the food writer and journalist,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Jaine|first1=Tom|title=Obituary: Michael Bateman|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/mar/30/guardianobituaries.media|accessdate=5 April 2017|work=The Guardian|date=30 March 2006}}</ref> Leeds University Library received his collection of international cookery books in 2011.<ref name="Monday Library Chat" />  Special Collections also holds an archive of his papers from his career as a food writer.<ref>{{cite web|title=Michael Bateman Archive|url=https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/33601|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref>

=== Previously held collections ===

Some material already held by the Brotherton Library and related to cookery has since been associated with the Cookery Collection.<ref name="Cookery Collections Guide"/> These include [[#Chaston Brewing|Alfred Chaston Chapman]]’s collection of books about beer and brewery which was donated to Leeds University Library in 1939.<ref name="A Descriptive Guide">{{cite book|last1=Offor|first1=Richard|title=A Descriptive Guide to the Libraries of the University of Leeds|date=1947|publisher=Brotherton Library|pages=51–55|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XwQZAAAAMAAJ}}</ref><ref name="Chaston Chapman notebooks">{{cite web|title=Chaston Chapman notebooks|url=https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/167087|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref>

===New acquisitions===
The Cookery Collection at Leeds University Library is still being augmented with new acquisitions. Leeds University Library collects manuscripts about cookery or medicinal remedies with a regional focus. More generally, Leeds University Library aims to collect titles not already represented in the Cookery Collection.<ref name="Special Collections Development Policy">{{cite web|title=Special Collections Development Policy (Pg 5)|url=https://library.leeds.ac.uk/downloads/file/809/special_collections_collection_development_policy|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=19 April 2017}}</ref>

== Collections and highlights  ==

The Cookery Collection has been catalogued in two distinct groups: Cookery Manuscripts and Cookery Printed Books.<ref name="Cookery Collections Guide"/><ref name="Monday Library Chat"/> 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 those from [[#Later donations|Michael Bateman and Camden Library]], are grouped in separate series.<ref name="In this collection"/> The following items are some of the most notable items in the Cookery Collection. The headings indicate the sub-collection or series under which each item is catalogued.

=== Ancient texts ===

In Blanche Leigh's original 1939 donation to Leeds University Library included a [[Babylon]]ian clay tablet dating approximately 2500 BC.<ref name="A Descriptive Guide"/><ref name="Monday Library Chat"/>  This Middle Eastern tablet was once used a receipt for [[barley]] with ancient [[cuneiform script]] marks.<ref name="Babylonian clay tablet">{{cite web|title=Babylonian clay tablet|url=https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/413784|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref> It is on permanent display in the Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery.<ref name="Treasures of the Brotherton">{{cite news|title=Treasures of the Brotherton|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-35457868|accessdate=5 April 2017|publisher=BBC News|date=1 February 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Pomona or the Fruit Garden Illustrated.jpg|thumb|''Pomona or the Fruit Garden Illustrated'' by Batty Langley]]

=== Cookery A, British printed cookery books ===
{{further|English cuisine}}

Cookery A consists of British printed cookery books.<ref name="Cookery Collections Guide"/> Among the major works held are four copies of [[Hannah Woolley]]’s ''[[The Queen-Like Closet]]''. The earliest edition is from 1672.<ref name="A Descriptive Guide"/><ref name="The queen-like closet">{{cite web|title=The Queen-Like Closet|url=http://lib.leeds.ac.uk/record=b1804470|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref> Woolley was one of the first women in England who earned a living from writing and selling books.<ref>{{cite ODNB|title=Biography of Woolley, Hannah|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29957|year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/29957 |accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref> There are two copies of ''Pomona: or the Fruit Garden Illustrated'' (1729) written by the English garden designer, [[Batty Langley]];<ref name="Pomona: or the Fruit Garden illustrated">{{cite web|title=Pomona: or the Fruit Garden illustrated|url=https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/221291|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref> the book is a gardener's manual for growing, picking and preserving fruits, as well as pruning and caring for plants.<ref name="Monday Library Chat"/> Charles Carter's ''The Complete Practical Cook'': ''or, a new system of the whole art and mystery of cookery'' (1730) is an illustrated recipe book.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Complete Practical Cook|url=https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/257821|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref> It contains copperplate engravings showing how to set and arrange a table for various courses in an 18th-century dinner.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Day|first1=Ivan|title=Charles Carter's Banniet Tort|url=http://www.historicfood.com/Banniet%20tort%20recipe.htm|website=Historic Food|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref> Charles Carter cooked for nobility and specialised in French baroque cuisine.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Meal|date=2001|publisher=Oxford Symposium|page=167|isbn=9781903018248|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GsNyprRS7EIC&q=The+complete+practical+cook+charles+carter|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref>

[[File:The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy Hannah Glasse.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''[[The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy]]'', 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=The art of cookery|url=http://lib.leeds.ac.uk/record=b1821138|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="The English Cookery Book"/> This book was a best seller for more than one hundred years and was written to help instruct servants in the preparing of meals.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Art of Cookery|url=http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/texts/cook/1700s2/arttitlehome/arttitle.html|website=Learning Texts in Context|publisher=British Library|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref> In the collection there are also four copies of ''[[The Forme of Cury]]'',<ref>{{cite web|title=Copies of The Forme of Cury|url=http://lib.leeds.ac.uk/record=b1817536|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Forme of Cury|url=https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/256041b|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref> It is one of the oldest known English cookery manuscripts.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Forme of Cury|url=https://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/texts/cook/medieval/pygghome/pygg.html|website=Learning Texts in Context|publisher=British Library|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref>

[[File:‘A Treatise on Adulterations of Food, and Culinary Poisons’ by Friedrich Chritisan Accum.jpg|thumb|''A Treatise on Adulterations of Food, and Culinary Poisons'' by Friedrich Christian Accum]]

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'' (1822).<ref>{{cite web|title=Copies of A Treatise on Adulterations of Food|url=http://lib.leeds.ac.uk/record=b1805634|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref> 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#Economic-adulteration|adulterated food]] to increase sales.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Fennema|first1=Owen R|title=Food additives – an unending controversy|journal=The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition|date=1987|volume=46|issue=1 Suppl|pages=201–203|url=http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/46/1/201.pdf|accessdate=5 April 2017|doi=10.1093/ajcn/46.1.201|pmid=3300261}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=A treatise|url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/fromdnatobeer/digitalgallery/detail-2541012R.html|website=US National Library of Medicine|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref>

[[Eliza Acton]]’s ''[[Modern Cookery for Private Families|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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Copies of Modern Cookery|url=https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore?query=b1829607|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Biography of Acton, Eliza|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/73|website=ODNB|publisher=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|accessdate=5 April 2017}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Copies of The book of household management|url=http://lib.leeds.ac.uk/record=b1808715|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=6 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="Have Beeton">{{cite web|title=Leeds University Library awarded HLF grant|url=http://www.rluk.ac.uk/news/university-leeds-library-awarded-hlf-grant/|website=RLUK|publisher=Research Libraries UK|accessdate=6 April 2017}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Beeton Info">{{cite web|title=Domesticity for Victorian Dummies|url=http://www.januarymagazine.com/cookbook/mrsbeeton.html|website=January Magazine|accessdate=6 April 2017}}</ref>

=== Cookery D, foreign printed cookery books ===

The Cookery D collection contains a large number of printed cookery books from Italy and a number other countries.<ref name="In this collection">{{cite web|title='In this collection', Cookery Printed Books|url=https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/43229|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=6 April 2017}}</ref> ''Opera di Bartolomeo Scappi'' (1570) is an illustrated Italian cook book with recipes and images of kitchen utensils.<ref>{{cite web|title=Opera|url=http://lib.leeds.ac.uk/record=b1798956|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=6 April 2017}}</ref> The author is [[Bartolomeo Scappi]], renowned renaissance chef, who cooked for [[Pope Pius IV]] and [[Pope Pius V]] in the [[Vatican City|Vatican]] kitchen.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tortellini in brodo|url=https://coquinaria.nl/en/tortelli-in-brodo/|website=Coquinaria|accessdate=6 April 2017}}</ref>

Cookery D also contains the one [[incunable|incunabulum]] in the Cookery Collection, which the Library received in Blanche Leigh's donation.<ref name="Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum">{{cite web|title=Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum|url=https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/118518|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=6 April 2017}}</ref> ''[[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 overeating.<ref>{{cite web|title=A Salernitan Regimen of Health|url=http://www.godecookery.com/regimen/regimen.htm|website=Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum|publisher=Gode Cookery|accessdate=6 April 2017}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Regimen sanitatis (held at Leeds UL Brotherton)|url=http://data.cerl.org/istc/ir00080000|website=Incunabula Short Title Catalogue|publisher=British Library|accessdate=6 April 2017}}</ref> Its printer Bernardino dei Vitali was active from 1494 to 1539.<ref name="Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum"/>

===Cookery Camden donation===

Among [[#Later donations|Camden Public Library's donation]] of 20th century cookery books to Leeds University Library were many works by the influential cookery writer, [[Elizabeth David]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Biography of David, Elizabeth|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/50960|website=ODNB|publisher=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|accessdate=6 April 2017}}</ref> In her first cook book, ''[[A Book of Mediterranean Food]]'' (1950), she reintroduced more exotic ingredients – such as [[Common fig|fig]]s, [[garlic]] and [[olive oil]] – that had been absent from British cooking during the war.<ref>{{cite news|title=Obituary: Elizabeth David|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/5318782/Elizabeth-David.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140604003618/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/5318782/Elizabeth-David.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 June 2014|accessdate=6 April 2017|publisher=The Telegraph|date=23 May 1992}}</ref>

=== 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, wine-making, the legality of alcohol and drinking in society.<ref name="A Descriptive Guide"/><ref name="Chaston Chapman notebooks"/> Some titles in his collection include: ''The Anatomy of Drunkenness'' (1840), ''The History and Science of Drunkenness'' (1883) and ''Oxford Night Caps: Being a Collection of Receipts for Making Various Beverages Used in the University'' (1835).<ref name="Chaston Chapman notebooks"/><ref name="Monday Library Chat"/>

===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 more recent acquisitions.<ref name="Cookery Manuscripts">{{cite web|title=Cookery Manuscripts|url=https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/163707/cookery_manuscripts|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=19 April 2017}}</ref>

== Research and outreach ==
===Research topics===
The Cookery Collection at Leeds University Library has proved to be an insightful research resource for scholars. 
*[[Cookbook|Cookery books]] are sources for attitudes, practices, trade and linguistics from a range of historical periods. The study of the Cookery Collection's early cook books can shed light on the social and economic characteristics of past societies.<ref name="The English Cookery Book"/>
*Cookery books can 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. Such changes can be observed in the Cookery Collection at Leeds University Library.<ref name="The English Cookery Book"/>
*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.<ref name="The English Cookery Book"/>
*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.<ref name="Medical">{{cite web|title=University of Leeds Library|url=https://ukmhl.historicaltexts.jisc.ac.uk/leeds|website=UK Medical Heritage Library|publisher=Historical Texts|accessdate=6 April 2017}}</ref>
*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]].<ref name="Beeton">{{cite web|title=Works by Mrs Beeton|url=https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/participant/14954|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=12 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="Glasse">{{cite web|title=Works by Hannah Glasse|url=https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/participant/46216|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=12 April 2017}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Medical"/><ref name="Cookery Collections Guide"/>
* Other focuses of the Cookery Collection include British cooking, French cooking, Chinese cooking, gardening, beer and brewery and wine and wine-making.<ref name="Cookery Collections Guide"/>
* An undergraduate internship programme through the Digital Creativity and Cultures Hub at the University of Leeds<ref>{{Cite web |title=Internship Programme {{!}} Digital Creativity and Cultures Hub |url=https://dcch.leeds.ac.uk/internship-programme/ |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=dcch.leeds.ac.uk}}</ref> has been exploring how to make the collection more accessible and engaging through innovative digital technology including [[Artificial intelligence|AI]]-assisted transcription of manuscripts.<ref name=":0">''Collections as data: Remixing special collections with Digital Tools'' (2024) ''YouTube''. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DpLT0aDqSo (Accessed: 19 June 2024).</ref> The project has also experimented with [[Generative artificial intelligence|generative AI]] to create images of what the recipes might have looked like.<ref name=":0" />

=== Historians ===

The Cookery Collection at Leeds University Library has informed an array of publications.  [[C. Anne Wilson]] was an assistant librarian at the Brotherton Library and catalogued the [[#John Preston's donation|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, so the Brotherton Library's Cookery Collection was integral to the establishment of the Symposium.<ref name="The English Cookery Book"/> The Leeds Symposium has held annual meetings for the discussion of food history and the presentation of papers since 1986.<ref name="Leeds Symposium">{{cite web|title=History|url=http://www.leedsfoodsymposium.org.uk/History.html|website=Leeds Symposium on Food History|accessdate=6 April 2017}}</ref> C. Anne Wilson wrote ''Food and Drink in Britain'' (1973) which draws on the Cookery Collection's early cook books.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Anne|title=Food and Drink in Britain: from the Stone Age to recent times|date=1973|publisher=Cookery Book Club|isbn=0-09-456040-4|pages=11–12}}</ref>
She wrote ''The Book of Marmalade'' which was published in 1985. In it, she cites the Cookery Collection:
"Many 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."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Anne|title=The Book of Marmalade|date=1985|publisher=Constable|isbn=0-09-465670-3|page=14}}</ref>
C. Anne Wilson edited ''Luncheon, Nuncheon and Other Meals: Eating with the Victorians'' (1994) and ''The Country Kitchen Garden 1600–1950'' (1998). Both of these books mention the Brotherton Library's Cookery Collection in their acknowledgements.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Anne|title=Luncheon, Nuncheon and Other Meals: Eating with the Victorians|date=1994|publisher=Alan Sutton Publishing|isbn=0-7509-0528-X|page=viii}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Anne|title=The Country Kitchen Garden 1600–1950 (In association with the National Trust)|date=1998|publisher=Sutton Publishing|isbn=0-7509-1423-8|page=x}}</ref>

Eileen White was a food historian specialising in domestic English cookery in the 15th and 16th centuries.<ref>{{cite book|title=About the Author|id={{ASIN|1903018366|country=uk}}}}</ref>
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. Illustrations in the book are taken from the Brotherton Library's collection.<ref name="The English Cookery Book"/>
White also edited ''Feeding a City: York'' (2000) and ''The English Kitchen: Historical Essays'' (2007), which also acknowledge the Brotherton Library's Cookery Collection.<ref>{{cite book|last1=White|first1=Eileen|title=Feeding a City: York; The Provision of Food from Roman Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century|date=2000|publisher=Prospect Books|isbn=1-903018-02-1|pages=14, 256}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=White|first1=Eileen|title=The English Kitchen: Historical Essays|date=2007|publisher=Prospect Books|isbn=978-1-903018-50-7|page=6}}</ref>
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."<ref>{{cite book|last1=White|first1=Eileen|title=Soup|date=2003|publisher=Prospect Books|isbn=1-903018-08-0|page=5}}</ref>

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.<ref name="The English Cookery Book"/>  
''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.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Leong-Salobir|first1=Cecilia|title=Food Culture in Colonial Asia: A Taste of Empire|date=2011|publisher=Routledge|page=64|isbn=9781136726538|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CWerAgAAQBAJ&q=cookery+collection+leeds|accessdate=6 April 2017}}</ref>

=== In books ===

*''A Descriptive Guide to the Libraries of the University of Leeds'' (1946), Richard Offor, Brotherton Library:<ref name="A Descriptive Guide"/> 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'' (2004), 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 it has informed.
* ''Secret Leeds'' (2007) by John Edwards, David Marsh, Christopher Allen, Amberley Publishing Limited:<ref name="Secret Leeds"/> 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'' (2016), ed. By David H. Stam, Routledge:<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stam|first1=David|title=International Dictionary of Library Histories|date=2016|publisher=Routledge|pages=401–403|isbn=9781136777851|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=APtYCwAAQBAJ&q=cookery+collection+leeds|accessdate=6 April 2017}}</ref> 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 over time. 
*''Directory of Rare Books and Special Collections in the UK and Republic of Ireland'' (2016), Ed by. Karen Attar, Facet Publishing:<ref>{{cite book|last1=Attar|first1=Karen|title=Directory of Rare Book and Special Collections in the UK and Republic of Ireland|date=31 May 2016|publisher=Facet Publishing|page=96|isbn=9781783300167|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQUUDgAAQBAJ&q=cookery+collection+leeds|accessdate=6 April 2017}}</ref> 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 guide to the Cookery Collection is available on the Leeds University Library website. This provides an overview to the collection, its history and its uses.<ref name="Cookery Collections Guide"/> The Cookery Collection has been fully catalogued online.<ref name="The English Cookery Book"/> In the Library catalogue the contents and hierarchy of the Cookery Collection can be viewed, as can descriptions of individual items.<ref name="'Also of Interest', Cookery Printed Books"/> 
A selection of pieces in the Cookery Collection have been photographed and digitised.<ref name="Digitisation">{{cite web|title=A selection of images from the Cookery collection|url=http://digital.library.leeds.ac.uk/view/cookery/|website=Digital Library|publisher=University of Leeds|accessdate=7 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="Online exhibitions">{{cite web|title=Online exhibitions|url=https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-christmas-recipes|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=6 April 2017}}</ref>
Researchers can consult the Cookery Collection in person by visiting the reading room in Special Collections at the [[Brotherton Library]], [[University of Leeds]].<ref name="The English Cookery Book"/><ref name="Visit">{{cite web|title=Visit Special Collections|url=https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-visit|website=Special Collections|publisher=Leeds University Library|accessdate=6 April 2017}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* [https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-cookery-collection Cookery Collections Guide]
* [http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/download-file/Designated_Outstanding_collections.pdf List of Designated Outstanding Collections]
* [http://www.leedsfoodsymposium.org.uk/index.html Leeds Symposium on Food History and Traditions]
* [http://www.historicfood.com/ Historic Food, website of Ivan Day (food writer)]
*[http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/istc/ Incunabula Short Title Catalogue]
* [http://prospectbooks.co.uk/img/EnglishCookeryBook.pdf The English Cookery Book: Preface and Chapter One]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Catering education in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Food historians|*]]
[[Category:Literary archives in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Rare book libraries]]
[[Category:Special collections libraries in England]]
[[Category:Works about food and drink]]
[[Category:University of Leeds]]