Cookbooks, Culinary Arts, Culinary History : Cookbook Collections
Cookbook Collection at Steenbock Library
In 1965, Madison resident Mortimer Levitan donated 2615 cookbooks to the libraries in memory of his mother, Dora T. Levitan.
Generous gifts made by faculty and staff, and the Cherkasky, Fried, Hagquist, Jolly, Kiser Quint, Lea, Lothe, Schmitz-Hinger, Steenbock, Wilt and Winner families and, by Rheta McCutchin (Emeritus Director of Housing Food Service, UW-Madison), enrich this collection to more than 5000 titles.
Titles from the collection reflect several themes:
- culinary history (including hospitality, homemaking)
- appliance and commercial product cookery
- United States regional cuisine
- world cuisine
- trends in cookery (special diets, ingredients and novelties)
How to Visit...
Find the collection on the first floor of the library within its southwest corner. Look for signage.
How to Browse...
The collection is shelved within stacks by LC (Library of Congress) call numbers. Use our guide to facilitate your browsing of this section. Search the online catalog for precise stacks location.
- Stacks Guide, TX Call NumbersPrintable handout for browsing stacks; includes additional GT and RM stacks.
UW Digital Collections featuring Cookbooks
These digital collections, curated by Barbara Hamel, showcase selections from the cookbook collection that have enduring interest for alumni and scholars.
Carson Gulley Cookbook Collection
Celebrate Carson Gulley, legendary chef with Housing Food Service, and famous for recipes that are still prepared on campus, including fudge-bottom pie.
Playing House: Homemaking for Children
Discover how young women were educated to assume their future role as homemakers.
Recipe for Victory: Food and Cooking in Wartime
Learn how conserving and stretching food resources during World War I made a significant contribution to the war effort.
Cookbook Collections and Archives of Culinary History (natl. & intl.)
- Biodiversity Heritage LibraryComprehensive digital collection of legacy literature of biodiversity. Find also texts about food production and preparation, cookery.
- Feast Afrique, Library"Documentation & Celebration of West African Food & Drink Knowledge & Heritage"
- Fons Grewe d' alimentacio i gastronomia, Universitat de BarcelonaLanding page in Catalan. Collection is a project of MDC (Memoria Digital de Catalunya).
- History of Food & Drink Collection, Virginia Tech, University LibrariesFeatures blog with recipes and reflections.
- Indian Community Cookbook Project, FLAME University, Digital HumanitiesOpen-access archive of community cookbooks from across India.
- Kirschner Cookbook Collection, Magrath Library, University of MinnesotaFeatures blog with recipes and reflections.
- Lizzie Black Kander Digital Collection, WHSPapers of Lizzie Black Kander (1858-1940) relating to her founding and operation of the settlement house that ultimately became the Jewish Community Center of Milwaukee.
- Manuscript Cookbooks SurveyDatabase of pre-1865 English-language manuscript cookbooks held in US public institutions.
- Mississippi Community Cookbook Project, University of Southern MississippiDigitization ongoing.
- Wellcome Library Recipe Books16th-19th century domestic recipe manuscripts.
Note: Find digitized texts in the library catalogue. An option to limit your search to online materials appears once you have entered a search.
Aprons, Appliances and More! (collections & exhibits)
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Alcohol's Empire: Distilled Spirits in the 1700s Atlantic WorldEssays, recipes, videos, and more. Collaboration of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Wangensteen Historical Library, and Tattersall Distilling.
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Trade Cards: An Illustrated HistoryHighlights from the Waxman Collection of Food and Culinary Trade Cards—advertising trade cards about food and related ca. 1870-1900.
Steenbock Librarian
Science & Engineering Libraries (SEL)
I am happy to schedule consultations!
Menu Collections
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CIA Menu CollectionCulinary Institute of America’s special collection of over 40,000 historical menus,
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Ira Silverman Railroad Menu CollectionDigital Collections, Northwestern University Libraries
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Menu Collection, WHSWisconsin Historical Society collection.
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Menus: The Art of DiningUNLV, University Libraries, Digital Collections
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Menus at the Nobel BanquetUnique menus for guests and laureates, 1901 to present.
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What's on the Menu?Restaurant Menu Collection, New York Public Library