Genre guide · Nonfiction
Cookbooks: word count & book length
How long a cookbooks book should be, which trim sizes suit it and what that means in printed pages. Typical length: 150–300 pages.
About cookbooks
Recipe collections, usually 50–150 recipes with photography. Lay-flat binding and wipe-clean covers are prized but expensive.
Recommended trim sizes
Tips for this category
- Colour photography needs a premium colour interior or offset printing.
- Test every recipe and use consistent units throughout.
About Cookbooks
A cookbook or cookery book is a culinary reference work that contains a collection of recipes and instructions for food preparation. Cookbooks serve as comprehensive guides that may include cooking techniques, ingredient information, nutritional data, and cultural context related to culinary practices. Cookery books can be general-purpose, covering a wide range of recipes and methods, or specialized, focusing on specific cuisines, dietary restrictions, cooking methods, specific ingredients, or a target audience. They may also explore historical periods or cultural movements. Cookery books are written by professional chefs, food writers, cooking instructors, cultural historians, collective organizations like community groups or charities, or as anonymous compilations of regional or historical traditions.
From the Wikipedia article “Cookbook”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Most-published cookbooks works in Open Library
| Title | Author | First published | Editions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan shozō Meijiki kankō tosho maikuro-ban shūsei | Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan (Japan) | 1991 | 156 |
| Frugal housewife | Lydia Maria Child | 1829 | 127 |
| Boston Cooking-School cook book | Fannie Merritt Farmer, Lincoln, Mary Johnson Bailey "Mrs. D. A. Lincoln," | 1896 | 98 |
| Como agua para chocolate | Laura Esquivel | 1989 | 83 |
| The Virginia house-wife | Mary Randolph, Karen Hess | 1824 | 80 |
| On Cooking | Sarah R. Labensky, Alan M. Hause | 1994 | 74 |
| Old Cookery Books and Ancient Cuisine | William Carew Hazlitt | 1886 | 73 |
| Joy of Cooking | Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker | 1931 | 67 |
| The Bartender's Guide | Jerry Thomas, Christian Schultz | 1862 | 62 |
| 国立 国会 図書館 所蔵 明治期 刋行 図書 マイクロ版 集成 | Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan (Japan) | 1991 | 60 |
Open Library lists 45,279 works under this subject.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a cookbooks book be?
What trim size is best for cookbooks?
Sources & data
- Subject statistics from Open Library.
- Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).