Reading guides
The books on this shelf are a century old or more. These notes answer the questions readers bring to them: may I copy this, can I cook from it, and how do I write about it.
Is it really public domain? Checking an old book before you copy it
A date on the title page answers most of the question. The traps are in the editions, the translations and the country you live in.
In the kitchenCooking from a 1900s cookbook: ovens, measures and what to leave alone
Most of a century-old recipe translates in five minutes. The canning chapters are the exception, and they are the ones that can hurt you.
For studentsWriting a review or essay about a book that is a hundred years old
The usual book-review advice assumes the author is alive and the reader can buy a copy. With old books, neither is true, and that changes what a good review does.
For researchersOld cookbooks as historical sources: what a recipe book can prove
A cookbook is a record of what someone wanted people to cook, which is not the same as what they cooked. Keeping that gap in view is the whole method.