The Library holds an unrivalled collection of domestic recipe manuscripts spanning the 16th century to the 19th century. Some of these manuscripts have been digitised and are now freely available online.

Researchers have used these recipe books for a diverse range of research topics including:

food history

domestic medicine in the medical marketplace

recipes as scientific experimentation

women as medical practitioners

experimental archaeology

herbal practice

recipe manuscripts and print culture

local, national and global economic frameworks

recipes as autobiography.

Explore the recipe books

All recipe books are available under a Creative Commons Attribution license; they can be freely downloaded and reused in any situation, so long as attribution is given to Wellcome Library.

Collection highlights