How much is your cookbook collection worth?

July 23, 2025 by
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As a rule, cookbook collectors are not in it for the money. Most of us love to cook (and/or bake), appreciate the advice and inspiration that cookbooks provide, and enjoy learning about different cultures through the lens of food and cooking. We generally do not measure the value of the book by dollars and cents, but that does not mean that all cookbooks are worth the same amount of money. Tasting Table brings us a story of how a handful of vintage cookbooks could net you a small fortune (assuming you are willing to sell them).

It will comes as no surprise that a first edition of Mastering the Art of French Cooking can fetch a commanding price. Only 5,000 copies were originally printed, and the asking price for one can range from $2,500 to $25,000 USD. Similarly, an original edition of Joy of Cooking (of which 3,000 copies were printed) sells for around $9,000. Other vintage cookbooks command a range of prices that hover between $1,000 and $10,000. Basically, if it is old, iconic, and rare, it may be worth a lot of money.

It is difficult to imagine a modern cookbook ending up as a priceless artifact. For one thing, the volume of cookbooks being printed every year is astounding. While there are contemporary authors who will go down in history as being pioneers for a certain cuisine or methodology, most of their books are printed in relatively large quantities. Of course, several decades hence, many of those copies will have been pitched in the dumpster by a relative cleaning out their grandmother’s dusty old things and what is now plentiful will become rare. Perhaps one day a signed first edition of Modernist Cuisine will sell for a jaw-dropping amount (although some would say the initial selling price is itself jaw-droppingly high).

Frightening dumpster scenarios like the one above compel many collectors to arrange for a library to receive their collections so they are not lost to the landfill. My collection is small enough that it will not be a candidate for a library, and as of now I don’t have a plan for what will happen to my books once I am no longer in need of them. One thing I do know is that I am not selling any of them now. They belong in a category of items that are priceless to me, regardless of what someone else values them. (Okay, I confess – if I had one worth $25,000, I might consider selling it. But I don’t.)

On the flip side, I am not so much of a collector (nor am I wealthy enough) that I would consider shelling out tens of thousands of dollars for a particular book, but it is interesting to see how much rare volumes are worth. I am curious about who is buying these scarce items. Do they genuinely appreciate them or is it just an investment? I would guess the former because cookbooks are not exactly objets d’art, and I do not think bragging rights for owning a first edition Joy of Cooking would approach that of possessing an original Warhol. Perhaps I am wrong about that – what do you think?

Category: Cookbook Lovers

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9 Comments

  • Indio32  on  July 24, 2025

    I buy them for my own personal pleasure and will continue to enjoy owning them until my time comes. After that like a house, money whatever it’ll be somebody’s else’s choice as to what happens to them.

  • FuzzyChef  on  July 24, 2025

    There are also a fair few cookbooks which, despite being rare, are not valuable. Guess how i know.

  • Jane  on  July 24, 2025

    Although I own more than 3,500 cookbooks, I don’t think any of them are of high resale value. Just as well as I’m not planning on ever selling them. Though as I head towards retirement I really should have some plan for disposal as I can’t imagine either of my children will want to take on the collection.
    I do own a complete set of Lucky Peach magazines in pristine condition which seems to be worth a few hundred dollars. My cookbook with the highest resale value is probably a first edition (1990) hardcover of White Heat by Marco Pierre White – maybe worth $100-200.

  • dbuhler  on  July 24, 2025

    I’ve actually never really thought about the resale value of any of my cookbooks. But, as I look at them, I do wonder about a couple of them. I have first editions (first printings) of Maida Heatters Best Dessert Book Ever and Chez Panisse Desserts. I bought both books on eBay for less then $10 a piece. Either the seller didn’t know what they had, or they are not actually worth that much! Either way, I didn’t know they were first editions until I looked before writing this, so it just isn’t something I think about very much. I do love having both these books in my library!

  • Marsaluna  on  July 24, 2025

    I have an almost complete collection of the Italian In Bocca cookbooks. I love them. They are so colorful and interesting. I’m not sure I would sell them, but does anyone have an idea of what they would sell for? I have seen individual books in the series on sale for a couple hundred dollars.

  • UrsEva  on  July 25, 2025

    I sold a signed first edition Julia Child “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” in perfect condition for $ 800 about 5 years ago. I bought it at a community sale for a few dollars clearly from a woman who did not cook and then had it signed when Julia had a book tour with Jaques Pepin about 25 years ago. I knew enough to keep using my old raggedy copy instead of the impeccable one. My kids were in college so I thought I did well. Should have kept it!
    I also had a fascinating but tattered small vintage cake decorating book from the 1920’s. Bought it for $ 8. It was too complicated for me so sold it on ebay for a shocking $ 625. More money for college!
    In general, cookbooks don’t make a great investment. They exist to inspire experimentation in cooking and to open the taste buds up to new flavors. However, my 2 great sales make me feel better about my insanely sized cookbook collection. It is an entire wall in the library.
    In short – church and garage sales are great places to find rare cookbooks.

  • Robmcl  on  July 29, 2025

    I’ve never thought about selling my books (nearly 900 at present) but would rather give them to someone who loves cooking. They are in my will to a girlfriend and hopefully she will enjoy using them as much as me and then pass them on to someone else. I have a couple of 19th century volumes but just love them, even though the recipes are somewhat dated, surprise, surprise.

  • Nancith  on  July 29, 2025

    My only rare book is an original copy of The Every-Day Cook Book by Miss E. Neill which belonged to my grandmother as a young bride over 100 years ago. I don’t know what it’s worth, if anything, but it’s an heirloom that hopefully one of my kids will want someday.

  • MelW66  on  August 8, 2025

    If I found out one of my cookbooks was a collector’s item I think I would be too afraid to use it. So not much use to me. But I am pretty sure I don’t have one as most have been collected within my lifetime. I do have one that was printed in my grandmother’s day but it is a 3rd edition CWA cookbook which I think most Australian households either still have, or plenty around – so not likely to be rare or valuable in monetary terms. I do have a couple of signed books, but it was because I met the author so special to me. Maybe the signed copies of Bill Granger’s books will be worth something one day as he sadly died a couple of years ago. But not likely in my lifetime!

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