Great Cookbook Collections V: Five Centuries at Virginia Tech

We hope that La Cocina Histórica inspires readers to visit the University of Texas in San Antonio. However, for those of you who live a little (or a lot) further away, we’ll also post occasional links to other great culinary collections.

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) is home to the Peacock-Harper Culinary Collection, which documents five centuries of culinary history, going back to the a 1693 London imprint A pocket-companion, containing things necessary to be known by all that values their health and happiness… by George Conyer.

This and other culinary collections at Virginia Tech, include over 3,000 printed volumes and two dozen manuscript collections consisting of manuscript receipt books, faculty papers, and culinary pamphlets.

Check out examples from the collection as digitized pdfs, including several editions of titles by the famous 19th century English cookbook writer, Isabella Mary Beeten. To learn more about Virginia Tech’s culinary holdings, browse through the Virginia Culinary Thymes, a seasonal newsletter dedicated to promoting the Culinary History Collection.