[Sca-cooks] Cookbook Bibliography

[Sam Wallace]

Hi Emilio,

> I am not sure what kind of project you have in mind, sort of a personal 
> notebook or something more systematical?

Well, it started as a compilation of what I had on hand and grew. When I 
mentioned it to others, they wanted it (and the accompanying files), so I am 
trying to clean it up and make it usable and useful to them and a broader 
audience. The fact that you found something new illustrates one of the main 
things I was after in this project: sharing the resources. The other main 
goal I have is to lay my hands on as many of these resources as I may. 
Happily, you have added fuel to that fire. Thanks for the link!

> In the latter case if have a few minor questions and one quibble:

> -- The quibble first: The entry "Pseudonym" covers many different types of 
> information: subtitles, translations of titles, spelling variants of the 
> title, locations of manuscripts, and I guess there are more. That's not 
> what is usually understood under "pseudonym". (Might be that my data got 
> scambled during transmission.)

Perhaps "Alternate Title" might be a more appropriate tag.

> -- Are you interested in documenting multiple internet copies. The 
> Bruyerin edition 1560 e.g. is online in four different places, the one you 
> mention, at the Grewe site, in the gallica collection and in another 
> collection which escapes me for the moment.

Yes, having multiple sources provides a number of benefits. If a link goes 
down, there might still be a way to get the work it references. Also, some 
works are facsimile editions, while others are transcriptions or 
translations or annotated versions. All of these have value and so I would 
be willing to link them all. There is probably a point of diminishing 
returns in how many links are appropriate, but in general more is better.

> -- How does your project relate to culinaryhistory.org and to Martha 
> Carlin's bibliography?

What I am aiming for in the format I use is to have something that can be 
sorted and re-ordered based on a number of criteria. Because of this, a 
spreadsheet or database works better than a static file. I do not know what 
I will end up with, but this is an important part of how I would like the 
data to be presented. Being able to sort by time and region is particularly 
useful for creating SCA feasts or comparing recipes from various 
collections. Both of the resources you mention are very much worthwhile, but 
I wanted a different format. I also want as much useful information as I can 
find to put in it. Also, I am not restricting this bibliography to the 
medieval period or to Europe and the Middle East, so I am casting a broader 
net than perhaps most of those we typically are concerned with on this list.

> -- Do you want to include all the medical authors, herbals, legal texts 
> and so forth that have something to do with food and eating habits?

Yes, there is another category I omitted from the copy I posted as it is not 
consistently populated: Subject. I have debated whether or not I will 
include it, but I think it is worthwhile. There are a number of resources I 
have found that are not culinary texts, per se, but provide excellent 
information concerning culinary habits. For example, I served frog legs as 
part of a 16th century Dutch menu based on an Englishman's travel log.

I appreciate your taking time to look at my work. I am aware that there 
things in this work that need to be changed, but that is why I asked for 
feedback. I hope I can make it into a useful resource for others as well as 
myself.

Thanks,

Guillaume