The project
About the archive
The Cook’s Guide is a durable, source-first digital edition for curious readers and researchers.
What is here
The core collection is Charles Elmé Francatelli’s 1868 The Cook’s Guide and Housekeeper’s & Butler’s Assistant: its transcriptions, structure, illustrations and surviving web-resolution scans.
What changed
This edition replaces a fixed-width, template-era website while retaining established archive URLs and making editorial additions visibly distinct from the historical source.
Who it is for
The archive supports reading, teaching and research. It presents historical cookery in its original book structure rather than recasting it as tested modern recipes.