McGill Web Gems: Cooking up a storm, and enduring the enemy
McGill Web Gems: Cooking up a storm, and enduring the enemy McGill University
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McGILL WEB GEMS
Cooking up a storm, and the enduring enemy
Join us as we unearth the hidden gems and secret places on the websites of McGill University and its affiliated institutions.
Cookery Book Collection
http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/cookbooks
Culinary classics?
There are homes in this country completely bereft of novels, anthologies, poetry, plays, graphic novels, bibles, encyclopedias, dictionaries or even joke books. It's a hard but true fact; some people think reading material means IKEA flyers, and bookshelves are designed to hold stereos, vases and collections of pewter cats. That said, I'd bet $100 that virtually every kitchen in North America has at least one cookbook. Not all of us crave art, but we've all got to eat, making cookbooks the most nearly universal literary form in the world. This wonderful website lists and displays the thousands of historical cookbooks in McGill's vast collection, including some going back to the early 18th century and before, including Catharine Brooks' 1760 masterpiece, The complete English cook; or prudent housewife. Being an entire new collection of the most genteel, yet least expensive receipts in every branch of cookery and good housewifery...to which is added the physical director, etc. The title alone has enough calories to keep you going for a month!
Tuberculosis: The Enduring Enemy
http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/tuberculosis
The word "tuberculosis" (or "consumption," as the romantics liked to call it) once evoked the same terror we now reserve for AIDS, SARS, avian flu, ebola and cancer. A deadly, infectious disease that most commonly attacks the lungs, tuberculosis stalked the filthy and overcrowded cities of the industrial revolution like a serial killer. Before the discovery of antibiotics, virtually the only available treatment was removal of the patient to a country sanatorium, away from the polluted air of the city. This site offers a historical perspective on the disease and its impact on society, along with a rich archive of the Osler Library's holdings on the subject.
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Do you know of any great McGill web gems we haven't covered yet? Send them to Mark Shainblum and you'll receive a free McGill Media Guide gift set (including coffee mug, mousepad and notepad) if we use your suggestion in the column.
