About the Book

Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping began as a church fund-raiser in Marysville, Ohio, and grew into one of the best-selling American cookbooks of the 19th century.

The 1880 edition collected thousands of 'tried and approved' recipes contributed by named housewives across the Midwest, plus chapters on everything a household needed: dyeing, doctoring, laundry, the care of lamps.

Its famous dedication reads: 'To those plucky housewives who master their work instead of allowing it to master them.'

This site reproduces the complete text of the original 1880 edition, digitized page by page from the original printing. The book is in the public domain.