Manuscript Location

New-York Historical Society, Patricia D. Klingenstein Library

Place of Origin

United States

Date of Composition

1840-1874

Description

This collection includes six cookbooks dating from circa 1840 to 1874 and comprising approximately 378 pages altogether. One volume of recipes is identified as belonging to Eliza Duane, and is dated November 28, 1843. Another, undated, is identified as belonging to Mrs. Mary Wells. Still another was given by S.T. Bagg to Fanny T. Wells, and is dated December 25, 1857. The remaining three volumes are anonymous but likely belonged to these women or other members of the Wells or Duane families. The cookbooks are collected with twenty-eight loose recipes (most undated), a letter to Eliza Duane from her cousin Kate, and a handwritten song to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

The cookbooks and accompanying loose sheets contain recipes for various cakes (including Jenny Lind Cake and Election Cake), preserves, puddings, desserts, and soups, as well as directions for pickling various foods, including oysters, and for curing various meats. One of the loose sheets has a medical recipe for the treatment of cholera (Cholera Mixture).