Cookbooks
Overview of the cookbook collection
- Contents: cookbooks, cooking magazines, brochures and other publications, which together give insight into the history of Dutch food culture and eating habits from the 15th century to the present.
- Size: a few thousand titles.
- Access: can be found in the KB catalogue. You can view digital copies of some works from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries in Delpher.
About the KB's collection of cookbooks
The KB's cookbook collection contains all kinds of books on cooking and food, from the 15th century to the present day. Together, they give insight into the history of Dutch food culture. Items include recipe books, cooking magazines, encyclopaedias and menus. Some books deal with special ingredients, techniques or diets. Most of the cookbooks date from the 19th century or later and there is a lot of information about French cuisine.
Extra special are the booklets commissioned by the food sector and advertising material from the food industry. These are rare items that can only be found in a few public collections.
History of the collection
In 1960, the KB received a large collection of cookbooks from culinary expert and writer Johan Willem Frederik Werumeus Buning (1891-1958). The collection consisted of 250 titles and included many Dutch classics, such as the Volkomen Nederlandsch kookkundig woordenboek (1772). The collection also contained cookbooks from 12 other countries.
After the arrival of Werumeus Buning's collection, the KB began actively collecting cookbooks and we now have thousands of books on cooking and food. The Dutch-language cookbook collection has been almost complete from the 1970s.
Accessibility of the collection
All titles can be found via the KB catalogue. You can view digital copies of some works from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries in Delpher.