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Monash University Library Cookbooks: The Sandy Michell Collection Preface. This exhibition celebrates the gift of valuable seventeenth to nineteenth century French and English cookbooks made by Alexandra Michell, beginning in 1988. Sandy has also made generous financial donations to the Library with which the collection has been developed and expanded to include a fine collection of early Australian cookbooks, and a selection of twentieth century material. Introduction - Alexandra Michell. The Monash Cookbook Collection is quickly becoming an important one worldwide, many thanks to Richard Overell and his dedicated staff in the Rare Books section in the Matheson Library. It now covers a large range of books from mainly France, England and Australia, dating from 1654 to the present day, Why should cookbooks be considered an important resource? In essence, it is one of the few ways we are able to access the private domain. Unlike the public sphere, this area remains relatively secret and impenetrable. Because we must eat to live, food is therefore an absolute daily necessity, as well as the way in which we celebrate friendships, gatherings, and all sorts of special events. Cookbooks aid us in its preparation, whether it is for the family or something more elaborate. Therefore, cookbooks document the history of food, giving us an insight into its availability and popularity at different times and in different cultures. One prime example of this was the reluctance of Parisians to eat potatoes until extreme food shortages in the 1790s and the persistence of the authorities, forced them to do so. Life without bread was for them unthinkable. Parmentier set about making bread from potatoes instead of wheat flour. At the same time, Madame Merigot brought out a small cookbook dedicated solely to the preparation of that much maligned vegetable, in the hope of increasing its acceptance. Cookbooks document fads, fashions, shortages, new cooking equipment and methods. On