# Is "American Cookery" by Amelia Simmons a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of American Cookery by Amelia Simmons (Hudson & Goodwin, Hartford, Connecticut, 1796) is identified by: The true first is the Hartford, printed by Hudson & Goodwin, 1796 — the first cookbook of American authorship printed in the United States — a slim 48-page work 'printed for the author' and issued without hard covers, the title page serving as the front cover and page 48 blank. US-only; the true first is the Hartford (Hudson & Goodwin) printing of 1796.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the Hartford, printed by Hudson & Goodwin, 1796 — the first cookbook of American authorship printed in the United States — a slim 48-page work 'printed for the author' and issued without hard covers, the title page serving as the front cover and page 48 blank
- First-edition copies carry a leaf of 'Advertisement' (Simmons's disclaimer of errors introduced in the printing) together with an errata; in the Library of Congress copy these are bound after page 24
- Because it was issued in plain self-wrappers, surviving genuine copies are institution-level rarities
- Publisher imprint reads Hudson & Goodwin, Hartford, Connecticut
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Amelia Simmons |
| Publisher | Hudson & Goodwin, Hartford, Connecticut |
| Year | 1796 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the Hartford, printed by Hudson & Goodwin, 1796 — the first cookbook of American authorship printed in the United States… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The true first is the Hartford, printed by Hudson & Goodwin, 1796 — the first cookbook of American authorship printed in the United States — a slim 48-page work 'printed for the author' and issued without hard covers, the title page serving as the front cover and page 48 blank. First-edition copies carry a leaf of 'Advertisement' (Simmons's disclaimer of errors introduced in the printing) together with an errata; in the Library of Congress copy these are bound after page 24. Because it was issued in plain self-wrappers, surviving genuine copies are institution-level rarities.

## Is this the true first?
US-only; the true first is the Hartford (Hudson & Goodwin) printing of 1796. A distinct, later 'Second Edition' — so labelled, 64 pages — appeared the same year, 1796, from Charles R. & George Webster of Albany, New York, and must not be taken for the first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Nearly every copy met with in commerce is a modern facsimile — most often the Oxford University Press facsimile of 1958 (with Mary Tolford Wilson's essay 'The First American Cookbook'), reissued by Dover in 1984, plus later reprints and adaptations; these are readily distinguished from a genuine 1796 Hartford printing.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *American Cookery* by Amelia Simmons a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/american-cookery
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.