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Edmonds Cookery Book

iconic cookery book in New Zealand

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 11, 2026
Entity authorityQ5338950
Source-derived summary

The Edmonds Cookery Book is a recipe book by Edmonds that focuses on traditional New Zealand cuisine. It was first published as The Sure to Rise Cookery Book in 1908 as a marketing tool by baking powder manufacturer Thomas Edmonds (today part of Goodman Fielder), but it is now known as a Kiwi icon.

Before the cookery book was created, Edmonds put recipes in the lids of the baking powder tins. The book was first published in 1908, originally named the Sure To Rise Cookery Book with 50 pages. Only two copies of the first edition are known to survive. Over the years, the cookbook has gone through numerous editions and reprints, evolving with changing tastes and kitchen technology.

In 1930 the first edition with photos was released. Originally, housewives could write a request to Edmonds to get a free copy. Couples in the 1940s who announced that they had become engaged in the newspaper would receive a free cookbook.

The first "De Luxe" edition appeared in 1955, and since then, the book has become a paid product.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Edmonds Cookery Book” is iconic cookery book in New Zealand. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Edmonds, Cookery and Book, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1908, 1930, 1955—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1908. For this dossier, Edmonds, Cookery and Book is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “iconic cookery book in New Zealand” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5338950. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1908, 1930 and 1955.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Edmonds Cookery Book”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Edmonds Cookery Book primary sources, Edmonds Cookery Book archive and Edmonds research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Edmonds Cookery Book”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Edmonds Cookery Book” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.