Recipe book compiled by John Cockburn Ross
Level of description
Fonds
Reference code
A.2003.0008
Date
1793-1827
Scope and content
Recipe book compiled by John Cockburn Ross. The book contains recipes including for Ketchup, Coffee, Gingerbread, Asparagus, Beech and Stilton Cheese, Ink, Pickled Mushrooms, Snails and Onions, recipes for preserving eggs, and cures for Seasickness, Scarlet Fever, Toothache, Asthma, Rheumatism, Gout, Epileptic Fits, Jaundice, Damp Walls, Sheep Rot and Ringworm and advice on escaping from fire, hints for exercise, cleaning marble, cleaning cotton, gardening and making linen waterproof. The book also contains references to Napoleon Bonaparte.
The description below was compiled by MA Students from the University of Leeds as part of the 'Placements in Context' module, May 2025:
This recipe book, compiled by John Cockburn Ross, offers a diverse collection of recipes and practical advice. In this era, medicine and food recipes were often compiled in the same books because both were seen as essential to maintaining health and healing the body. The boundary between food and medicine was much less distinct than it is today; people believed that a good diet was fundamental to preventing illness, and many foods were considered to have direct medicinal properties. Household recipe books served as practical guides for managing daily life, blending culinary instructions with remedies for common ailments. Since care for the body was largely handled within the home, it made sense to gather all forms of domestic knowledge into a single, accessible volume.
The description below was compiled by MA Students from the University of Leeds as part of the 'Placements in Context' module, May 2025:
This recipe book, compiled by John Cockburn Ross, offers a diverse collection of recipes and practical advice. In this era, medicine and food recipes were often compiled in the same books because both were seen as essential to maintaining health and healing the body. The boundary between food and medicine was much less distinct than it is today; people believed that a good diet was fundamental to preventing illness, and many foods were considered to have direct medicinal properties. Household recipe books served as practical guides for managing daily life, blending culinary instructions with remedies for common ailments. Since care for the body was largely handled within the home, it made sense to gather all forms of domestic knowledge into a single, accessible volume.
Conditions governing access
Open.
Conditions governing reproduction
Not Permitted.
Language
English, Latin