Cookbooks are everywhere. Many people own at least one. You find them in bookshops and thrift stores. They are frequently given as gifts and passed down through generations. Yet most of us think of them as just collections of recipes, unaware of what else they can reveal.
Drawing from the Rare Books & Manuscripts Library’s collection of nearly 10,000 volumes, this exhibit celebrates more than 200 years of American cookbooks and their unique ability to offer windows into cultures and histories. Essential Ingredients explores cookbooks as a lens for understanding many aspects of the past and present, including social movements, global foodways, local communities, international crises, technological advancements, and personal stories.
Digital Exhibit
View our latest digital exhibit of Essential Ingredients: Cookbooks as History. This digital exhibit was designed to accompany the physical exhibition on display in the Thompson Library Gallery from August 20, 2024 - January 5, 2025.
Additional Programming
Exhibition Reception and Conversation with Chef Avishar Barua
- Tuesday, August 27, 4pm - 6pm: Thompson Library Gallery (Room 125)
Join us in celebration of Essential Ingredients: Cookbooks as History. The event will include a curator-led tour of the exhibit followed by a conversation with Chef Avishar Barua.
This event is free and open to the public, however, we ask that you please RSVP. Refreshments will be provided.
Make Your Own Cookbook Workshop
- Wednesday, October 16, 5pm - 6:30pm: Thompson Library (Room 150 A&B)
During this workshop, you will make your own personalized cookbook by exploring, selecting and compiling historical recipes from the Rare Books & Manuscripts Library’s cookbook collections.
This event is free and open to the public, however, we ask that you please RSVP. Pizza and refreshments will be provided.
Make Your Own Cookbook Workshop
- Monday, November 4, 5pm - 6:30pm: Thompson Library (Room 150 A&B)
During this workshop, you will make your own personalized cookbook by exploring, selecting and compiling historical recipes from the Rare Books & Manuscripts Library’s cookbook collections.
This event is free and open to the public, however, we ask that you please RSVP. Pizza and refreshments will be provided.
Digital Collections
In conjunction with this exhibit, OSUL recently digitized several of RBML’s manuscript (handwritten) cookbooks from the 18th to 20th centuries. Visit the Libraries’ Digital Collections Manuscript Cookbooks site to learn more, view high resolution scans, or download complete PDFs of the works.
One of the digitized items, an 1840s manuscript cookbook possibly compiled in or near Marietta, Ohio, is featured in Essential Ingredients: Cookbooks as History.
Press Coverage
Essential Ingredients: Cookbooks As History (8m 24s) | WOSU Broad and High, Season 12, Episode 2 | Aired: 10/10/2024
A Special Thank You to
Ashlyn Oprescu, Book and Paper Conservator
Sarah Casto, Photo and Paper Conservator
Brenda Vasquez, Conservation Assistant
Marcela Estevez, Head of Conservation
Pam McClung, Senior Graphic and Motion Designer
Abigail Luber, Digital Scanning Assistant
Jared Gardner, Digital Exhibit Designer
Ryan Pilewski, Temporary Preparator
Cameron Sharp, Head Exhibitions Preparator
Jeremy Stone, Exhibitions Coordinator
