Introduction This project is a book history analysis of recipe format design. The book I have chosen to examine is a late 19th century cookbook titled, Boston Cooking-School Cookbook by Fannie Merritt Farmer. The cookbook was published in 1896; with numerous editions following. Farmer was a well-known cook, instructor, lecturer, and writer during her lifetime. The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook was extremely popular among American housewives who referred it religiously as their guide for cooking.
Although gender roles have drastically changed over the years, historic cookbooks can provide a wealth of knowledge as it concerns the study of book history. According to American chef and culinary personality (former host of America’s Test Kitchen), Chris Kimball, “You can go back 100 years or 200 years or to Roman times and follow a recipe. It's a pretty good way of getting a sense of what people were like and how they thought about things." (Herwick, 2017).