Pages from the “New American Cookery Cookbook” before preservation. Credit: Courtesy of the Ohio State University Libraries
Recipes can tell stories that go beyond taste, revealing how people lived, worked and ate throughout history.
The Rare Books & Manuscripts Library at Ohio State houses a growing collection of cookbooks that preserve pieces of American culture through food. Among them is “New American Cookery,” a rare title that followed what’s considered the first American cookbook ever published, “American Cookery.”
Jolie Braun, curator of Modern Literature and Manuscripts, said the collection offers students an opportunity to connect with history in a tangible, relatable way.
“Even if you don’t cook with cookbooks, everyone has experiences, ideas and opinions about food,” Braun said.
Within her time at the library, Braun said this donation felt like no other. Hannibal Hamlin, an English professor, donated the cookbooks. His late wife, Cori Martin, collected them and Hamlin wanted to contribute to Braun’s exhibit of exploring cookbooks and their history.
“This is probably one of the most exciting donations in my time here,” Braun said. “We would not have been able to obtain these copies on our own, which is why donations and donors are so important.”
The exhibit, titled “Essential Ingredients: Cookbooks as History,” was first shown at Thompson Library in August 2024, and is now on view at the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio in Lancaster. It highlights how cookbooks serve as cultural records and connect people through shared food traditions.
Jason Crabill, executive director of the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio in Lancaster, said the collaboration with Ohio State highlights how cookbooks serve as cultural records and encourage public engagement.
“Cookbooks are a reflection of culture,” Crabill said. “They’re snapshots — documents that demonstrate the complexity of what America was at its founding.”
Crabill said “Essential Ingredients” has sparked conversations among visitors about their own traditions and family recipes.
“It is one of the few exhibits where all of the programming has caused our audiences to be talkative, sharing stories about their own traditions or family recipes,” Crabill said. “The exhibition reflects how these objects connect to people’s stories — it’s profound.”
Braun said older cookbooks also reveal how everyday life and domestic skills have changed over time.
“Thinking about how to prepare a dish changes over time,” Braun said. “In older cookbooks, you won’t see a temperature for the oven because there wasn’t one — you get a sense of how different cooking was, and the skill set that was required.”
Students and community members can view the Rare Books & Manuscripts Library’s cookbook collection by appointment.
“Essential Ingredients: Cookbooks as History” is free and open Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. until Jan. 4, 2026.
