Check out Martha Stewart’s new cookbook library

It’s difficult to imagine that someone as accomplished as Martha Stewart was once a novice cook, but everyone has to start somewhere. As a newlywed, Stewart purchased a copy of Joy of Cooking, like countless others who embarked on their cooking journey through that book’s pages. You will probably not be surprised to learn that Stewart has amassed a rather large collection of cookbooks in the ensuing years. She recently built a special library to house this collection, and she has invited readers to view the new space.

The bright and airy library is located at her farm in Bedford. Stewart keeps duplicates of her most-used cookbooks right in the kitchen, but this newly designed area is for housing special tomes. “This is my place to dream up new dishes and flip through old favorites,” she says. Among those old favorites is a first edition of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by Julia Child, Simone Beck, and Louisette Bertholle, Elizabeth David’s South Wind Through the Kitchen, Paula Pecks The Art of Fine Baking, and a copy of Larousse Gastronomique. Stewart’s copy of Mastering is splattered with the evidence of many well-cooked meals, and includes notes and recipe cards tucked inside its worn pages, which are held together with tape.

The library’s simple style is one that could be easily emulated at home, provided you have space for floor-to-ceiling bookshelves (and that you don’t have to fight for said space with a significant other who also collects books). I can imagine pulling a book off the shelf and browsing its pages while sitting in front of a cozy fire, can’t you?