I was given The Glasgow Cookery Book a few months ago; I’m a sucker for an old and worn book and everyone knows it. I put it to one side to have a look at later and forgot about it until more recently. An old book that smells like it should deserves a proper going over and a nice cup of tea. I sat down to enjoy a flick through the aged pages and got a lot more than I bargained for.
I was hoping to find an interesting recipe that had perhaps been forgotten about or a take on something I make regularly. What I found instead was a myriad of lists, scribbles, notes, pieces of paper, recipe cards and more. The picture below is the inside front cover which is plastered in words and phrases, for example, ‘Russian Fill Pie’ or ‘Grilled Kidneys’ amongst others.
On closer inspection some of the words refer to a page number but some of them seem like a moment of inspiration. On the hunt for more information about the previous owner I started thumbing through the book and found some more trinkets. One piece of paper seems to be a continuation of the front cover; on another page is a recipe from a magazine or an old style shopping list.
There are a few bits which I suppose were used as bookmarks, certainly they were found on the more stained pages, and a card from a hotel I can assume they visited.
This is why I love old books, there’s so much more of a story behind them. The notes on the recipes from the previous owner show their personal take and taste on a dish and in this case a little bit of history about them too. There is no date of publishing in this book or any other date on anything I found.
I love to flip through antique books too… It’s like peeking into the life of someone in the past…
what a gorgeous book! so much history!
I have a cookbook that was compiled by my Mum in the 1950s and 60s from magazine cuttings. Fascinating to see the stuff they ate/cooked in those days – mostly considered rubbish by today’s standards!
Yeah..the main question that I have for you is how did you end up with this book? 😀
I’m now on a mission to find a vintage cook book =)
I have been keeping some of my old cook books too. Just like you, the stains and notes remains me of the time I flipped throught the pages, looking for recipes.
This is so very cool! I love that you get a little piece of history with every recipe.
I was scratching my head, wondering what this book was. Hailing from Glasgow I had a feeling, I should really know this book but from your description, I understand a bit more as to why I don’t.
The previous owner certainly has a great sense of humour “avoid if possible” – Love it!
Ahh how lovely! Love flicking through old cookbooks! I inherited some from my nan, which came complete with clippings and scribbles, felt like she was still here giving her advice 🙂
It’s lovely how there is so much history involved 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Just to think about the history behind the book…it is awesome!
Have a great week 🙂
That is so cool. How neat to imagine what they were thinking…doing…and what that means for our cookbooks!
What a great gift! I love the way old books smell, too. I recently sifted through some of the cookbooks I used when I was younger, and found little notes I had written to myself – the coolest feeling.
I too like vintage cookbooks. What a lovely gift you have received!
Wow! What an amazing book. I also keep my eyes open for an old vintage cookbook. So many treasures in those pages. Thank you for sharing!
Vintage books carry so many memories of something “been lived before”. They are very special indeed.
That is so cool, it’s really more than just a cookbook, the notes and scribbles make it so real…awesome!
Oh dear, what a treasure! You now have not only a book but a new friend as well, a friend from the days gone by…
I love old books like this and it often surprises me how modern some of the recipes can seem and how ancient others appear. I wish someone had advised me to avoid certain recipes in the past.
Your book could be up to a hundred years old depending on the edition.
What a lovely post. It’s one the the things I love about pre-owned cookbooks, discovering those bits of paper marking recipes, or shopping receipts in shillings and pence. (I see from your latest post that you have just moved. Good luck with the unpacking and enjoy your new home!)
i absolutely adore vintage cookbooks! what a treasure you have!
A great glimpse into someone’s life. This book is still in print if you’re interested and there’s a Facebook page with a few bits of archive material you might find interesting