Writer Meredith Goad for the Portland Press Herald finds much to be excited about in Bowdoin’s new collection of antique cookery books that were printed between 1772 and the 1960s. The 700 books in the Esta Kramer Collection of American Cookery, donated to the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives in the fall, offer up not just “odd recipes,” Goad writes, but also history, quirky words and phrases, and even helpful tips still applicable today.

The exhibit also caught the eye of Bangor Daily News journalist Kathleen Pierce, in her article “History of American Cookery Comes to Life at Bowdoin Exhibit.” She quotes antiquarian bookseller Don Lindgren. who catalogued the collection: ““Cookbooks are like auto repair manuals,” he says. “Both get under the hood and show how things really work.”

The collection features in an exhibit that opened last week at the Hawthorne-Longfellow Library. It will run through June 5, 2016.

On January 27, to mark the opening of the exhibit, Don Lindgren gave a talk titled  click here to view/listen.