12 Retro Cookbooks That Are Worth More Than You Think

Cookbooks have been kitchen staples for much longer than you might expect, with some of the oldest cookbooks in the world dating back hundreds and even thousands of years. These texts were not always as straightforward as the step-by-step instructions we have in today's cooking guides, but they offer a window into how food preparation has changed throughout history. Accordingly, historically significant cookbooks have become sought-after collector's items and come at high prices with online sellers, rare book traders, or private auctions.

In our list of retro cookbooks, there are several factors that seem to determine the value of old cooking reference texts. The ones worth the most money tend to be first, limited, or rare editions, as these are the most difficult to come by. In most cases, cookbooks that have been signed by the author also end up being worth much more. Other books on this list are considered valuable because of their historical significance, and some are so old or rare that only a few copies are known to exist, with their scarcity reflected in their elevated prices. In all cases, each cookbook included in this list has been deemed valuable as much for its rarity as for its historic or cultural importance, since many of these texts were revolutionary for their time. They have consecutively paved the way for modern cooking. The significance of their contribution to culinary history is reflected in how much these retro cookbooks are now worth.

American food writer M.F.K. Fisher's "How to Cook a Wolf" was originally published in 1942. Timely in its aims to navigate food shortages during the Second World War and scant resources in general, this cookbook aimed to help home cooks prepare affordable, nourishing meals. A humble text with noble intentions, it did not suggest any extravagant fare, but emphasized more simple meals, in some cases approaching cooking from a survival standpoint. The wolf in the title is a reference to keeping the wolf from the door, as it takes into consideration the economic accessibility of recipes, and how cooks without much means can still prepare balanced meals.

With recipes intended for households without high incomes, Fisher's cookbook has become a classic, as much for its philosophizing about cooking (and food in general) as for its practical approach. First editions are worth a great deal today, and are listed with online auction sites for up to $2,000. Even second editions have some considerable value — a signed copy of the book's 1951 reprinting has an asking price of over $1,500. Versions that have a special appeal to collectors fetch even higher prices. An especially rare advanced review copy of the original printing is valued at $4,300, as further proof of this text becoming a hallmark among culinary classics.

English author, Eliza Acton's 1845 cooking manual, "Modern Cookery in All its Branches," was dedicated "to the young housekeepers of England." Typically considered to be the first cooking guide intended for everyday home cooks, this was a formative text of the 19th century. The book's long and winding full title revealed precisely why it was different from all pre-existing cookbooks, for reducing modern cookery into "a system of easy practice, for the use of private families in a series of practical receipts, which have been strictly tested and are given with the most minute exactness."

Acton's cookbook was the first to format recipes in the way we're familiar with today, by clearly listing specific quantities of ingredients and detailing exact instructions for every step of the cooking process. While this might not seem like a big deal to contemporary readers, many cooks in the mid-1800s found Acton's instructions drastically more helpful than earlier cooking manuals, which were often vague in their descriptions. As a formative culinary cornerstone, this cookbook has been deemed a valuable text, and something many collectors would be eager to have. Various editions from the mid-19th century, even in a state of disrepair, are easily worth $400, but first editions are naturally considered to be worth much more, listed at prices of up to $2,000.

A rare cookbook, originally published in San Francisco in 1881, "What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking" is a text as significant for its author as for its historic recipes. Suspected to have grown up in slavery, Abby Fisher was a resourceful and enterprising woman who moved her family to California in the aftermath of the Civil War. There, she became locally renowned for her award-winning pickles and preserves. With a steady business selling these goods, Mrs. Fisher went on to compile recipes for her beloved preserves, as well as for more hearty meals from her Southern roots. With no training in reading or writing, Fisher dictated her recipes so that they could be formally printed. Her collection is the second known cookbook to be published by an African-American woman. 

With a local fanbase who admired her cooking, Fisher's cookbook was not a widely-printed publication, and it was published with the Women's Cooperative Printing Union, a small business supported by a local clientele. Fisher's story has made this hard-to-come-by cookbook something library special collections are eager to get ahold of. Johns Hopkins University recently acquired a first edition copy, but this acquisition took one of the university's librarians years to track down. Accordingly, this rare and important cultural text fetches a very high price for the limited copies available. Online used book retailers list first editions at a standing amount of $22,000.

Originally published in London in 1727, Eliza Smith's "The Compleat Housewife" was first intended for an English audience, and its decoration with woodblock illustrations added an air of prestige to instructions for home cooking. As a comprehensive assortment of recipes, Smith's text also included menu ideas for seasonal cooking, with options specified for each month of the year. Though little is known about the book's author, this text became significant overseas when a compilation of Smith's recipes from various editions was compiled in 1742 to become the first cookbook printed in the Thirteen Colonies.

Being such an old text, physical copies of this cookbook aren't especially easy to get a hold of. The first edition, printed in England in the 18th century, is an especially rare find. The scarcity of this historic cookbook alone makes it worth a considerable amount. Original first edition copies are priced at around $4,500.

Buwei Yang Chao was a medical doctor by training, and one of the first women in China to practice Western medicine. After immigrating to the United States in the 1930s, however, her influence shifted to the culinary sphere. Originally published in 1945, Chao's "How to Cook and Eat in Chinese" was the cookbook that officially introduced Chinese food to white American households. It was the missing link to making well-loved Chinese recipes accessible, as this kind of cuisine had been popular in restaurants across the U.S. for decades, but was something diners lacked the know-how to recreate at home. Translated by her daughter with contributions from her husband, Chao's recipes are not necessarily exacting, as they keep a Western audience in mind. Culminating with a sort of Chinese-American cuisine, the text is significant for some of its terminology as well; it was Chao who invented the names for "stir-fry" and "potsticker," which still conjure up mouthwatering images for diners today.

While there have been numerous reprints, and vintage copies are relatively accessible through online used book sellers, it's not easy to find a first edition copy of this cookbook. The handful listed online are considered even more special because they're signed by the author, with asking prices listed from $1,300 at the very lowest, up to $25,000 at the high end.

First compiled in 1931, Irma Rombauer's "The Joy of Cooking" started out as a humble, self-published text. Though Rombauer was not known to anyone as a capable cook, her inexperience led to a revolutionary cookbook writing style. She explained recipes simply, adding in wit and humor. This was a big shift from the intimidating, technical, matter-of-fact writing which defined the comprehensive cooking manuals that had come before. Easy to understand and fun to read, the book was an instant success after Rombauer went to a trade publisher hoping to distribute her book more widely. Adding more recipes over the years, in later editions, Rombauer's cookbook became a foundational text in many kitchens. Now called "Joy of Cooking," it's still a favorite today among home cooks and food celebrities. This is a cookbook highly praised by Alton Brown and considered to be a 20th-century kitchen bible.

A text of such culinary and cultural importance has become a collector's item, especially because there have been so many changes between reprints. First editions of Rombauer's independently financed 1931 printing sell at around $6,800, going up to $8,000 for signed versions. First editions of the book's first trade printing can be worth even more, with a signed 1936 copy listed for $10,000 online. Rarer copies of the book have sold for an even higher price. Poet Sylvia Plath's 1953 edition of the cookbook, including her notes in the margins, sold at auction for $14,000.

First published in 1765, English cookbook author Susannah Carter's "The Frugal Housewife" was a manual for household management as much as cooking. Different from other texts of the time for its emphasis on accessible ingredients, the cookbook was directed towards cost-efficient meals. It also aimed to foster self-sufficient home cooks who could prepare nourishing, seasonal meals from ingredients grown in their own gardens. Re-published in the Thirteen Colonies in 1772, it was a handy reference text for its day. The book inspired later author Amelia Simmons' classic 1796 text, "American Cookery," with many of Simmons' recipes seeming to be nearly or exactly the same as Carter's originals.

Though a historic piece of culinary publishing, not many copies of Carter's original text remain. Consequently, collectors and historians consider it worth a great deal. A slightly more recent edition than the original, from 1796, was listed online for $3,700. But first editions are worth much more, and have appeared sporadically as auction items. A copy of the first American edition from 1772 was listed for auction with Sotheby's at an estimated value of $20,000 to $30,000. Another copy, listed online as a pairing with another historic text, was set at $40,000.

The Boston Cooking School, originally founded in 1879, was geared towards cooks from all levels of society. It attracted aspiring professional household cooks seeking to enter the profession and offered courses to lower-income homemakers with the aim of teaching how to prepare nutritious and inexpensive meals. Mary Lincoln was the cooking school's first principal, and spread the school's influence even further when she published a cookbook in 1884. "Mrs. Lincoln's Boston Cookbook, What to Do and What Not to Do in Cooking" focused on a more scientific approach to food preparation. It emphasized wholesome fare, including hearty breads and the local favorite of Boston baked beans.  

Intended to be a textbook for students at her cooking school, Mrs. Lincoln's cooking manual did not have as wide a reach as a book published later by one of her pupils. Fanny Merritt Farmer's "Boston Cooking School Cook Book," which came out in 1896, became a more mainstream cookbook and household staple with its innovative emphasis on specific measurements in each recipe. While Farmer's book enjoyed a longer-lasting influence, Lincoln's original text remains a rarer book to find, making copies of this older manual worth a considerable amount. First editions can be found through online rare book retailers, valued from $3,500 up to $6,000. A later edition, signed by the author, is valued at $4,500.

"Les Diners de Gala" is one of the most eccentric and visual cookbooks ever published, and is as much an ode to surrealism and imagination as it is a legitimate compilation of recipes. Illustrated by Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dali, in a tribute to his wife Gala, the 1973 publication also includes whimsical photographs of the artist. The book champions aesthetics and elaborate meal configurations, with subject matter skewing towards the erotic, including an entire chapter dedicated to aphrodisiacs. A completely epicurean approach to preparing meals, nothing about the dishes in Dali's cookbook is frugal, simple, or reserved — the recipes are for those who love flavor and flamboyance. Though these dishes are not from Dali's own personal archive, his artistic contributions form a highly original approach, combining food and fantasy. 

With an estimated 400 copies of the original cookbook that are still known to exist, the first edition is something reserved mostly for collectors, especially considering the high price this book has demanded at auction. A copy made available through Heritage Auctions sold for $1,900 in 2008, but since then, the book has been listed for much more. Copies have popped up among online sellers in the ballpark of $3,000, but those signed by Dali come with a price of around $10,000.

Serving the highest tier of European society at the beginning of the 19th century, French chef Antonin Carême worked for numerous royals, from Napoleon Bonaparte to Tsar Alexander of Russia, becoming one of France's earliest celebrity chefs. With his training in the preparation of desserts, he was widely renowned for his sugar sculpting and pastries. He reinvented the notion of what these could be with his elaborate croquembouche towers and refined the still notoriously tricky soufflé. But Carême also contributed to French gastronomy in a more logistical way. While directing royal banquets, he popularized the system of presenting a meal through multiple courses, making him a founding father of France's haute cuisine.

In addition to preparing elaborate meals for the European elite, Carême also wrote many cookbooks during his lifetime. His first, "Le Patissier Royal Parisien," was initially published in 1815 in two volumes, with a focus on sweet and savory pastries. It's difficult to find a complete two-volume set of this text, and even just one of the two sells for between $600 and $1,400 with online sellers. A complete pair once sold for $4,500. This may be one of Carême's more sought-after texts, but his works in their entirety can carry an even more staggering price. A 13-volume set of his collected culinary texts can be found listed for $16,500.

Before the 1961 cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," co-authored by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck, French cuisine was not something Americans often consumed and was rarely attempted by home cooks. This was largely because there were no cookbooks for French recipes in English, and French cooking itself was seen as something too complex for most non-professional cooks to dream of tackling. But this revolutionary 1961 culinary guide succeeded in its goal of making French cooking accessible through helpful tips and extensive lists of tools and utensils best suited for nuanced French dishes. Though Child's love affair with food was first sparked by Chinese cuisine, this cookbook jump-started her career in the culinary industry. A few years later, her cooking show further popularized the boo,k with each episode dedicated to a step-by-step recipe recreation to further debunk the supposed mysteries of French cuisine.

Now a revered and essential culinary text which has seen many reprints, the two-volume first edition, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," is a highly prized culinary artifact, and signed copies have reached astronomical prices. Seekers might find single volumes for around $3,500 online, and complete two-volume sets can cost over $4,700. More sought-after copies can be, and have been, listed much higher, with signed two-volume sets listed from $10,000 to over $12,000. But a copy with a personal inscription from Child beats all other online listings with a one-of-a-kind price, set at $25,000.

Published in 1954, Alice B. Toklas's eponymous cookbook is a compilation of favorite recipes prepared for her expat social circle of well-known artists. As author and art collector Gertrude Stein's lifelong partner, Toklas was typically the one to do the cooking for their dinners and gatherings among friends, including artists like Picasso and Matisse, when they lived in Paris and the South of France. Toklas's cookbook includes recipes from this time in France, as well as different dishes she prepared when she and Stein returned to the States. The cookbook was published in the U.K. and in the U.S., with one notorious difference between the two versions. The recipe for her infamous Haschich Fudge featured in the British edition, but was purposefully left out of the American one.

With intriguing insight into Stein and Toklas's personal lives, "The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book" is a text many dream of adding to their collections. First edition copies are definite collector's items, and have been listed for over $2,000 online. Copies bearing a signature, however, have much higher prices. One British antiquarian site listed a signed first edition for around £6,700 (over $9,000). But another rare bookseller, with a copy of the first American edition, set the book at an unbelievably high figure, due to the volume including a personal inscription from Toklas herself. This copy comes with one of the highest price tags a vintage cookbook has ever received, listed at $45,000.