Manuscript Cookbook Index

Good Eatings

Manuscript Cookbooks and Recipes at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture

This is an index to manuscript (unpublished) cookbooks and recipes in the Virginia Museum of History & Culture (VMHC)’s collection. Preliminary research was conducted by William and Mary intern Annabelle Midden as part of a program titled “What's Cookin'?: Foodways in Virginia History” in 2023. This guide was first published in 2024 and was compiled and edited by Matthew Guillen.

Published cookbooks were brought to Virginia with English colonization–the Virginia Company’s records show that, by 1620, copies of Gervase Markham’s The English Huswife (1615) and The English Husbandman (1613) were shipped to America. VMHC holds a 1653 copy of Markham’s English Housewife (Rare Books SK185 .M34 1654) and many more from the sixteenth century to the twenty-first. [1]

VMHC’s manuscript cookbooks and recipes are unique and reflect what culinary historian Karen Hess called the “eclecticism that has continued to mark American cookery.” This comes from “the fascinating interplay of strikingly different influences that manifested themselves from the very beginning.” By the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, a sophisticated cuisine had developed in Virginia–interweaving Indigenous, African, and British foodways, all of which had changed and adapted in response to each other. It was American food. [2]

The oldest manuscript cookbook in our collections may be an undated “Cookbook, ca. 1700” (Mss5:5 Un3:4), by an unidentified author. It was used over hundreds of years and the recipes reflect changes from seventeenth century English recipes to American ones in the late-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Manuscript cookbooks were typically passed from mother to daughter and recipes were shared across cookbooks. Historian Katharine E. Harbury notes that this cookbook is related to Jane Randolph’s manuscript “Cookbook, 1739-1743” (Mss5:5 W1507:1) and both relate to the published cookbook, The Virginia House-wife (1824), by Mary Randolph. Thus, the genealogy of our ancestors' food can be traced like our family histories. [3]

Whether called cookbooks, cookery books, recipe books, receipt books, or other variations, recipes were often kept in bound volumes containing other material like commonplace books, account books, and occasionally in published cookbooks (Elizabeth Rucker Labby Cole’s cookbook is essentially an annotated copy of Eliza Leslie's 1837 Direction for Cookery, in Its Various Branches, Mss5:5 C6743:1). Historically, recipes for household cleaners, medicinal remedies, and other non-food products were often collected together with those for food. Laura Gresham’s (1834-1912) recipe book (Mss1 G8665 a 370-398) which has instructions for making cough syrup, curing chicken and “hog” cholera, and a remedy for diphtheria (for further discussion on medicinal recipes in cookbooks, see Martha Washington’s Booke of Cookery, edited by Karen Hess).[4] As this guide focuses on foodways, such recipes have been omitted unless they are found within manuscript cookbooks also containing recipes for food or drink.

This index’s title, Good Eatings, derives from an 1863 essay by humorist George William Bagby (1828-1883). Editor of the Southern Literary Messenger, public official, librarian (of Virginia and of the Virginia Historical Society), Bagby was one of the earliest American food writers and a champion of Virginia foodways. His papers, which include manuscript essays on “Bacon and Greens” and “Corn Field Peas” (with recipes), are part of our collections (Mss1 B1463 b 4,034-4,307).

This index is a living resource to be expanded as materials are identified within the nearly 9 million items in the VMHC’s holdings, and as new materials are added to the collection. The most detailed descriptions of materials in the VMHC’s holdings are found in their catalog records in the Library Catalog, linked in the call numbers below. Large manuscript collections (like those with “FA” in their call numbers), may have separate finding aids or indexes, usually linked at the bottom of their records. This guide was first published in 2024 and was compiled by Matthew Guillen.

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Anderson, Maria Burwell Carter (1855-1931). Cookbook, 1891. [24] p.Mss1 P2775 a 245.

—. Cookbook, ca. 1895. [18] p. Mss1 P2775 a 246.

Archer, Anne Virginia Watson (1826-1920). Cookbook.Mss1 C5217 a 1043-1060.

Armstrong, Eliza. Commonplace Book, 1825-1857. Mss5:5 Ar575:1 (CMLS).

Bagby, George William (1828-1883). Essay, “Corn Field Peas.” Mss1 B1463 b 4070.

Bannister, Mary Burton Augusta Bolling (1789-1853). Cookbook, 1818-1821. [320] p. Mss1 C6458 c 10.

Bannister, Mary Burton Augusta Bolling (1789-1853). Cookbook, 1834-1836. [70] p. Mss1 C6458 c 11.

Baskervill, Sally Dortch (1807?-). Cookbook, 1833-1873. Mss1 B2924 c 11.

Bassett, Mary Burnet Bassett (1839-1881). Recipe, n.d., for peach wine. Mss1 B2944 a 2232-2237.

Bernard, William R. (1826-1881). Commonplace book, 1847-1850. Mss5:5 B4567:1.

Brown family. Recipe for blackberry wine. Mss1 B8157 a 330-335.

Butler, Vincent Moore, Mrs. [Possibly Matilda W. Berry Butler (1826-1915).] Recipe book, ca. 1880s-1890s. Mss1 P4299 b 36-39.

Campbell, Annie Lee Carrington (1862-1927). Recipe book, ca. 1909-1937. [176] p. Mss5:5 C1521:1.

Carter, Landon (1710-1778). Letter, 1778 Feb[ruar]y 5, "S[abine] Hall" [Richmond County, Va.] to Richard Henry Lee, "Chantilly,] [Westmoreland County, Va.]. Concerns Francis Lightfoot Lee and a recipe for whiskey. Mss2 C24603 a 1.

Casner, M. J., Mrs. Recipe book, ca. 1865. [32] p. Mss5:5 C2701:1.

Chalmers, Julia Dixon Henry (1857-1937). Cookbook. Mss1 C6773 b 33-75.

Chambers, Lucy Goode Tucker (1805-1854). Recipe for loaf bread, ca. 1845-1853. Mss1 C3553 a 33.

Clark, Eliza Ann Spragins, (1821-1897). Cookbook, ca. 1840. [20] p. Mss1 Sp716 a 4343.

—. Cookbook, ca. 1852-1862. [32] p. Mss1 Sp716 a 4344.

Cole, Elizabeth Rucker Labby (1820-1885). Annotated copy of Eliza Leslie's Direction for cookery, in its various branches (Philadelphia: E. L. Cary and A. Hart, 1837). Mss5:5 C6743:1.

DeButts family. Recipe, n.d., for plum pudding. Mss1 D3545 a 1,186-1,238.

DeButts, Mary Ann Welby (1752-1828[1]). Recipe, n.d. Mss1 D3545 a 52-55.

Delaney, Marie Elizabeth Bowery (1922-1998). "Cooking for Health and Happiness, Vol. 2.” Mss1 D3735 a Ser.5.2.

Deneale, George (1776-1818). Recipe for Blackberry Cordial. Mss1 D4116 a 319.

Edmunds, Jane Watkins Dupuy (1790-1870). Cookbook, ca. 1840-1879. Mss1 Ed596 a 99.

Eldridge, Mary (Moseley) and Mildred Kidder Eldridge [later Cabell]. Cookbook and poetry commonplace book, ca. 1857. Mss1 EL245 a 3.

Ellison, Eliza McMinn (1845-1921). Recipe book, ca. 1902-1909. Mss1 N3137 a.

Eppes, Elizabeth Welsh Horner (1832-1905). Cookbook, n.d. 81, [33] p. Mss1 Ep734 d 429.

Eppes, Mary (1858-1954). Cookbook, 1908. [116] p. Mss1 Ep734 d 472.

Garland, Louisa Frances Garland (1812-1889). Cookbook, ca. 1870. [6] leaves. Mss1 G1837 b 20.

Gresham, Laura (1834-1912). Recipe book. Mss1 G8665 a 370-398.

Harrison family. Recipe for curing hams and bacon. Mss1 H2485 f 580-595.

Hay family. Recipe for blackberry wine. Mss1 B9585 a 2,105-2,141 (Sec. 40).

Haynes, E. A., Mrs. [Possibly Eliza Dwyer Haynes (1848-1924).[2]] Recipe book, 1893-1903, kept in Richmond, Va. [150] p. Mss5:5 H3335:1.

Holladay family. Scraps cookbook, 1934. Mss1 H7185 h 429-440.

Holladay, Huldah Fontaine Lewis (1781-1863). Cake recipe, n.d. Mss1 H7185 b 2637.

Holton, Virginia Harrison "Jinks" Rogers (1926-2022). Recipe for Russian Tea, ca. 1969-1974. Mss1 H7445 a 593-606.

Hopkins, [?]. Cookbook, ca. 1843. [342] p. Mss5:5 H7741:1.

Hatchett, William James "Willie" (1845-1864). Letter, 1863 September 5-6, includes a recipe for cooking [rice?]. Mss2 H2833 b 9-36 (CMLS).

Hunter Mary Evelina Dandridge (1817-1893). Recipes for Bakers Omelet, Hyden Salad (i.e pickled cabbage), and various puddings. Mss1 H9196 b 690-693.

Jeffreys, Bessie Morton Goode (1878-1930). Cookbook, ca. 1900-1930. [100] p. Mss1 Sh8185 a Sect. 19.

Jones, Catharine Gifford Skelton (1850-1918). Cookbook, ca. 1880-1900. [138] p. Mss1 J735 a 4.

Kaine, Anne Bright Holton (1958-). A recipe. Mss1 H7445 a 607-629.

Kline, James Allen (1874-1944). Virginia League of Women Voters, Virginia Cookery Book (1921). Mss1 K6853 a 72-77 (folders).

Knight, Cleverine Thomas (1825-1911). Cookbook, ca. 1871-1872, kept in New York Commercial Index to First Hands in Foreign and Domestic Iron, Steel, Hardware...1871. 94 p. Mss1 W7277 b 61.

Kochenour, D. A. Correspondence with Mary Mann Page Newton (1834-1900) regarding a recipe for butter. Mss1 J6496 a 1,445-1,499.

Lancaster family. Cookbook, ca. 1800, written in French. [4] p. Mss1 L2215 a 160.

Lee, Mary Randolph Custis (1807-1873). Cookbook, ca. 1860-1868. [152] p. Mss1 L5114 d 146.

Litchfield, Mary (1875-1936). Recipe. Mss1 L7115 a 1307-1331.

Littlepage, Hardin Beverley (1842-1911). Undated recipes for “Scriptural Cake” and “Father’s Sausage,” ca. 1884-1907. Mss1 L7333 a 52-60 (CMLS).

Louthan, Mary Tyler (1904-2000). Recipe for salmon loaf. Mss1 L9361 a 12,791-12,854.

Luke, John Whelan (1815-1896). Recipe for pickling beef, 1847-1850. Mss1 L9695 a 376.

Lynn, Clara Minor (1847-1925). Coffee substitute recipes (pp. 1-2) in reminiscences, undated, concerning experiences and observations during the Civil War. Mss2 L9933 b (CMLS).

Macon, Nora Crena (Braxton). Cookbook, 1849. Mss1 J6445 a 304-320.

Madison, L. W. Letter to Mary Tabb Bolling Lee (1848-1924) letters, 1872-1920, written to Mary Tabb (Bolling) Lee. Mss1 L5114 d 124-135.

Mason, John Thomson (1844-1901 [7]). Journal, 1863 November 5-1864 May 18, kept in Abbeville, France, includes a recipe for a "Flip" cocktail (page 41). Mss1 M3815 a 75 (CMLS).

Mason, John Young (1799-1859). Recipe for bread, ca. 1820-1830. [50] leaves. Mss1 M3816 d 3247.

Massie, Susan Elizabeth Smith (1822-1887). Recipes. Mss1 M3855 c 2,452-2,693.

Masters, Jane Rebecca Eggleston Irving (1805-1884). Cookbook, 1856-1894. [40] p. Mss1 Ir85 a 5.

Miller, Ruby Howard Rose (1904-1985). Recipe book, undated. Mss1 M6196 e.

Morton, Lucy Hannah (-1892). Cookbook, 1873-1880. [62] p. Mss1 H1956 a 3995.

—. Cookbook, ca. 1880. [24] p. Mss1 H1956 a 3996.

Morton, Margaret Elizabeth Watkins (1828-1903). Cookbook (typescript copy), ca. 1875. Mss1 M8468 a 1-5.

Nelson, Maria Octavia Selden (1845-1925), possible author. Student notebook, n.d., also kept, presumably at a later date, as a cookbook. 142 p. Mss5:4 N3352:1.

Perry, Thornton Tayloe (1892-1981), collector. Non-Virginia miscellaneous papers, 1810-1918, include recipe books. Mss1 P4299 j 108-154.

Preston, Alexander. Recipe for distilling corn [and clarifying liquors], ca. 1820. Mss1 P9267 b 1004.

Randolph, Jane Bolling (1703-1766) and Jane Randolph Walke (1729-1756). Cookbook, 1739-1743. Mss5:5 W1507:1.

Ranson, Mary Ellen (Baldwin) (1817-1880). Cookbook, undated. Mss1 G9906 a 30.

Ribley family. Recipe book [fragment], undated. Mss1 R3565 a 57-94 (CMLS).

Richards, Ann Bedford Jeffress (1813-1870), presumed author. Cookbook. Mss2 C7739 b.

Saunders, Elizabeth Lewis Dabney (1830-1904). Correspondence with Malinda Callaway Price regarding a recipe for blackberry wine. Mss1 Sa878 a 2,601-3,298.

Saunders, James Riddick (1828-1893). Recipe for blackberry wine (p. 274), 1857-1867. Mss1 Sa878 b 18.

Snyder, Katharine Christine Parrish (1876-1965[8]). Commonplace book, 1913-1921; additional recipes enclosed. [72] leaves. Mss5:5 Sn923:1.

Southern Biscuit Company (Richmond, Va.). Recipe book (1 of 3): “Formulas Oct. 25-[19]21].” Mss3 So875 a 1.

—. Recipe book (2 of 3), 1920s. Mss3 So875 a 2.

—. Recipe book (3 of 3), 1930s. Mss3 So875 a 3.

Spigle family. Recipe for bitters. Mss2 Sp445 b 135-140.

Steptoe, Robert Callaway (1791-1870 [9]). Letter to Sarah Tate Steptoe Massie (1796-1827) concerning their father's funeral; a recipe for making vinegar; and the death of their brother James. Mss1 M3855 a 700-811.

Sutherland, Prudence M. Cookbook, ca. 1860-1900. [78] p. Mss5:5 Su845:1.

Talcott family. A recipe. Mss1 T1434 d 1164-1175.

Taylor, Mary Edmonia (1824-1892), Lucy Jane Taylor (1828-1869), and presumably, Mildred E. (Turner) Taylor (1799-1882). Cookbook, ca. 1840. [40] p. Mss5:5 T2163:1.

Thomson, Eliza Shields (-1898). Commonplace book, ca. 1880-1891, concerning cooking, gardening, and animal husbandry. [102] p. Mss1 Sp716 b 2023.

Thornhill family. Cookery recipes, late 19th-early 20th century. Mss1 T3937 a 816-904.

Tinsley, Martha G. Rutherfoord (1803-1873), and others. Cookbook (48 p.), 1834. Mss2 T4975 b.

Todd family. Recipe for homebrew. Mss1 T5662 b 1260.

Tomlin, Elizabeth Randolph Braxton (1838-1896). Letter, ca. 1862, of Elizabeth Randolph (Braxton) Tomlin to Virginia Braxton (Coalter) Braxton concerning a recipe for gingerbread. Mss2 B73994 b 13.

Tompkins, Maria Mason (1831-1864). Pocket notebook, undated. Mss1 T5997 a 44-101 (CMLS).

Trinkle, Elbert Lee (1911-1996). A Recipe, ca. 1924-1952. Mss1 T7375 a fld. 518.

Turner, Mary Magill Randolph (1833-1910). Correspondence with cousin Christian Averie Heineken (1871-1954) concerning family life and a recipe for biscuits. Mss1 T8596 a 1772-2449.

Unidentified. Cookbook, ca. 1700. [252] p. Mss5:5 Un3:4.

—. Cookbook, 1836. Mss1 P3496 c 545-559.

—. Cookbook, 1837. [12] p. Mss5:5 Un3:3.

—. Cookbook, ca. 1840. [4] prelim., 87, [19] p. Mss5:5 Un3:5.

—. Cookbook, ca. 1840. [28] p. Mss5:5 Un3:12.

—. Cookbook, ca. 1850. [12] p. Mss1 H1956 a 3997.

—. Cookbook, 1859-1866. [104] p. Kept at “Westover” (Charles City County, Va.). Mss5:5 Un3:13.

—. Cookbook, 1879-1883. [28] p. Mss5:5 Un3:6.

—. Cookbook, undated. Mss1 Ar554 b 94-96.

Virginia Can Company. Recipe book on canning. Mss1 R5498 d 113.

Virginia Home for Boys (Richmond, Va.). Promotional cookbook published after 1986. Mss3 V81954 a Sect.7.

Warren, Sarah Robb Tyler Marshall (1888-1964). Cookbook, 1904-1935. [120] p. Mss5:5 W2555:1.

Whipple, Gwynn Page Anderson (1882-1943). Cookbook, ca. 1910. [44] p. Mss1 P2775 a 762.

Williams, Lucy Page Kennon (1817-1892). Cookbook, ca. 1837-1892. Mss5:5 W6735:1.

Young, Fanny Churchill Braxton (1828-1894) and Fanny Braxton Young Miller (1859-1913). Cookbook, 1870?-1916. [162] p. Mss1 M6196 a 7.

Sources Referenced:

[1] Karen Hess, ed., The Virginia House-wife by Mary Randolph (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1984), xiii-xiv.

[2] Ibid., xxi, xxxi.

[3] Katharine Harbury, Colonial Virginia’s Cooking Dynasty, xiii-xvi.

[4] For more on medicinal recipes in cookbooks, see Karen Hess, ed., Martha Washington’s Booke of Cookery (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981).

[5] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/68233084/marianne-debutts.

[6] First page of the recipe book reads, “E. A. Haynes, 308 E. Franklin St., Richmond, Va., Feb. 9, 1893.” The 1893-94 Richmond City directory indicates G.A. Haynes lived at that address. G. A. Haynes died Sep 22, 1905 in Richmond and was interred at Mt. Cavalry cemetery. Find a Grave indicates his wife was Eliza Dwyer Haynes.

[7] “J. T. Mason Dies Suddenly.” New York Times, June 22, 1901, p. 9, in ProQuest Historical Newspapers, The New York Times (1851-2007) [database], cited in https://uvastudents.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/john-thomson-mason-9-mar-1844-21-june-1901/.

[8] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/84556003/katherine_snyder.

[9] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141420305/robert-callaway-steptoe.