Price Guide to Cookbooks and Recipe Leaflets

Rating:
Summary: A lacking book, even if it weren't outdated
Review: I do not like writing a negative review, but the only plus about this was I bought it used on Amazon for around $3.

I will not harp that it is outdated, that is understood by the copyright date. But, it is only a list and an incomplete and sporatic one at that. Seems to be no rhyme or reason as to why books are in the list or left out of the list.

There are only 2 1/2 pages of actual text from the author and it really is not that informative.

There are several other books for collecting cookbooks that I just bought, and they seem to be better by 10 times just by merely glancing through them. I won't mention them since I'm not through with them yet.

Unless you want to add this to your collection, do not buy this as an informative tool

Rating:
Summary: A Good Choice for Cookbook Collectors!
Review: New cookbook collectors will find this an invaluable reference tool for evaluating their collection. Although missing the historical information found in other reference books on the subject, the sheer number of cookbooks listed makes it well worth the investment. While my copy showed 1999 values on the cover, I found little difference in the few listings checked against a 1993 revision of the same book. Overall, Dickinson's values tend to be lower than other price guides, but this book is still a very useful reference. Despite any shortcomings, this book receives an enthusiastic 5 stars just for being the absolute SIMPLEST reference book on the subject I have found. All titles are listed alphabetically - no thumbing through different categories and trying to decode the author's mindset for classifying a particular book.

Rating:
Summary: OUTDATED, INADEQUATE...DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!
Review: This book, original or updated, even if free, is NOT useful for any new or established collector TODAY.

It is wholly inadequate in it's meager sampling (primarily performed in 1990) and it's lack of ANY pricing awareness or concern for a book's value being modified by being a torn first edition, or being a great later revision or mass produced reprint.

A useful update of this book, and more inclusive, selective and useful, could be created by sampling current Amazon book reviews with prices. To be more inclusive for true pricing, sampling a week's ACTUAL SALES of cookbooks on EBAY (Thousands of cook book titles and prices WITH condition of book sold-TRULY- Up to Date!), collating the titles and prices, indicating if first edition etc., having a price spread for books in various conditions, and publishing it...here's a strong hint to any would be (and successful) Cook Book Price Guide writers-I'll buy YOUR book! Through these methods, a new collector could better learn what's a great cook book (by published reviews of historic or literary merits), and pass over the "Fluff" of many titles in this dated price sampling.

Though "updated" again in the 1990's since 1990, over 15 years ago (as of 2004), it is still a small sampling and hodgepodge of titles and prices reflecting only as Ms. Dickinson freely admits.."actual sales within recent months in our area". Today we are, in this time of internet access, in a world far more encompassing than Ms. Dickinson's local community of 1990, 1995 or later. The prices of some books have skyrocketed since this publication. Pity the collector who might pass over a very valuable book today...just becaue it was not listed, or because it was priced at $2 back then...

For example, it has listings only for the Settlement Cookbook's 1938 22 ed and the 1949 edition, never clueing the reader into the First Edition of 1911 and later editions. It ignores the wonderful 50+ set of Time-Life Foods of the World Cookbooks entire existence!

Looking up Mrs. Beeton's Classic "Every-Day Cookery" or other classic illustrated books from before the 1880's and onward, this lists only ONE Mrs. Beeton book...and from 1967, at that!!! Oh yes, this price list is from books sold in Ms. Dickinson's limited local area over a few months sampling time..what should I, or another collector hope for then or now, from such a "sampling"?

There are tens of thousands of cookbook titles currently available, and thousands now published each year! This outdated listing of few book titles gives no clue as to a book's importance, if any, to collectors overall. It does a disservice by not "starring" titles of books that are "perceived" by collectors as being of more historic or literary merit than others. Itdoes not indicate books, with or without "prices" that are considered just plain "enjoyable" readings ...and this modification could make for a useful book to be prepared for a beginning collector.

The Recipe leaflet titles in this under 200 page book further dilutes any value of this book to cookbook collectors as well, as the few leafelets better belong in a booklet mentioning their all important Fine to Poor condition with prices.

Read books like Cookbooks Worth Collecting by Mary Barile for a historical taste of cookbooks (despite the 1994 prices), and realize that you will have to cobble information gleaned from additonal books and the internet to get an idea of the vast history, daily life, and aspirations of the authors and readers in their times, reading recipes from Medieval times, to Iron Chef creations!

This book has some black and white photos of books also selected willy-nilly, most have no copyright indicated, and why Favorite Dartmouth Recipes, Souffle Spectaculars (1969), Stocking Up (1977) have a photo, and many of the classics do not is again, limited to and by the painfully brief sampling performed back in 1990!!

This is not a book written by a cookbook lover or true collector...and is shows in it's glaring omissions of classics, and included "fluff" of local cookbooks that expands it's apparent number of books sampled.

If you want a book for pricing since the 1990's...this is NOT it! If you want to learn about cookbooks in any way, this is NOT for you, either! An enticing title perhaps, 15 years out of date, and not much more to offer.

Rating:
Summary: OUTDATED, INADEQUATE...DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!
Review: This book, original or updated, even if free, is NOT useful for any new or established collector TODAY.

It is wholly inadequate in it's meager sampling (primarily performed in 1990) and it's lack of ANY pricing awareness or concern for a book's value being modified by being a torn first edition, or being a great later revision or mass produced reprint.

A useful update of this book, and more inclusive, selective and useful, could be created by sampling current Amazon book reviews with prices. To be more inclusive for true pricing, sampling a week's ACTUAL SALES of cookbooks on EBAY (Thousands of cook book titles and prices WITH condition of book sold-TRULY- Up to Date!), collating the titles and prices, indicating if first edition etc., having a price spread for books in various conditions, and publishing it...here's a strong hint to any would be (and successful) Cook Book Price Guide writers-I'll buy YOUR book! Through these methods, a new collector could better learn what's a great cook book (by published reviews of historic or literary merits), and pass over the "Fluff" of many titles in this dated price sampling.

Though "updated" again in the 1990's since 1990, over 15 years ago (as of 2004), it is still a small sampling and hodgepodge of titles and prices reflecting only as Ms. Dickinson freely admits.."actual sales within recent months in our area". Today we are, in this time of internet access, in a world far more encompassing than Ms. Dickinson's local community of 1990, 1995 or later. The prices of some books have skyrocketed since this publication. Pity the collector who might pass over a very valuable book today...just becaue it was not listed, or because it was priced at $2 back then...

For example, it has listings only for the Settlement Cookbook's 1938 22 ed and the 1949 edition, never clueing the reader into the First Edition of 1911 and later editions. It ignores the wonderful 50+ set of Time-Life Foods of the World Cookbooks entire existence!

Looking up Mrs. Beeton's Classic "Every-Day Cookery" or other classic illustrated books from before the 1880's and onward, this lists only ONE Mrs. Beeton book...and from 1967, at that!!! Oh yes, this price list is from books sold in Ms. Dickinson's limited local area over a few months sampling time..what should I, or another collector hope for then or now, from such a "sampling"?

There are tens of thousands of cookbook titles currently available, and thousands now published each year! This outdated listing of few book titles gives no clue as to a book's importance, if any, to collectors overall. It does a disservice by not "starring" titles of books that are "perceived" by collectors as being of more historic or literary merit than others. Itdoes not indicate books, with or without "prices" that are considered just plain "enjoyable" readings ...and this modification could make for a useful book to be prepared for a beginning collector.

The Recipe leaflet titles in this under 200 page book further dilutes any value of this book to cookbook collectors as well, as the few leafelets better belong in a booklet mentioning their all important Fine to Poor condition with prices.

Read books like Cookbooks Worth Collecting by Mary Barile for a historical taste of cookbooks (despite the 1994 prices), and realize that you will have to cobble information gleaned from additonal books and the internet to get an idea of the vast history, daily life, and aspirations of the authors and readers in their times, reading recipes from Medieval times, to Iron Chef creations!

This book has some black and white photos of books also selected willy-nilly, most have no copyright indicated, and why Favorite Dartmouth Recipes, Souffle Spectaculars (1969), Stocking Up (1977) have a photo, and many of the classics do not is again, limited to and by the painfully brief sampling performed back in 1990!!

This is not a book written by a cookbook lover or true collector...and is shows in it's glaring omissions of classics, and included "fluff" of local cookbooks that expands it's apparent number of books sampled.

If you want a book for pricing since the 1990's...this is NOT it! If you want to learn about cookbooks in any way, this is NOT for you, either! An enticing title perhaps, 15 years out of date, and not much more to offer.