Collecting Culinaria

"Collecting Culinaria is a tribute to an extraordinary trove of historic cookbooks collected by Linda Distad, a University of Alberta librarian who died in 2012. Distad had a mania for heritage recipes; her collection ran to more than 3,000 titles, including the first English-language cookbook published in Canada, The Cook Not Mad, circa 1830.... Recipes date from Roman times, but Culinaria credits an English homemaker, Isabella Beeton, as author of the 'culinary and household management touchstone' that started the whole ball rolling in 1859. Mrs. Beeton’s Book Of Household Management ran to 1,112 pages of recipes, cleaning tips and advice.... Collecting Culinaria is spectacularly illustrated with photos and artwork." [Full review at http://bit.ly/1Li7qFE] ~Holly Doan, Blacklock's Reporter

"Collecting Culinaria offers a wealth of images and history from the collection which ranges from manuscript images to cookbooks centered on food and health to early compilers such as Isabella Beeton whose tips and recipes became household standards, and The Cook Not Mad, which became the first English cookbook to be published in Canada in 1830. This magnificent cookbook history is a top pick for any culinary reference holding..." ~California Bookwatch

"...the book functions as a tasting menu, offering readers tantalizing glimpses of the Collection's treasures, whetting appetites for a longer visit and closer scrutiny.... Pages reproduced from the manuscript cookbooks are particularly intriguing..." ~Nathalie Cooke, Canadian Literature, Summer 2015