The English cookery book - Leeds Symposium on Food History

The study of early cookery books can tell the reader much more than just the history of food, or of one particular recipe. As the essays in the collection demonstrate, cookery books can be the source of fascinating information about a whole range of issues, from the use of language (Peter Meredith); the way that illustrations may be deployed for instructional purposes (Ivan Day); or how social change is reflected on the dining-tables of the nation (Eileen White and Valerie Mars). In addition, there are two excellent studies of individual books and their makers (Malcolm Thick and Laura Mason) which underline the immense value of the cookery collections housed in the Brotherton Library of the University of Leeds.