Pre-1900 cookbooks are also often loaded with really interesting household and medical information. They packed all kinds of practical knowledge of the time into these books so that they are part cookbook, part home remedies and part almanac. I have been having the best time collecting old cookbooks and trying out the recipes. (not the medical stuff though!) I've got one cookbook that was co-authored by a medicine show pitch man and another I just ordered that was put out by Hood's Liver Pills. Although these mass info books were common, they are a fascinating glimpse into society and are very telling about what life was like then. Personally I think the real value in these books is not monetary, but historical.