Eliza Lucas Pinckney Receipt Book, 1756

Eliza Lucas Pinckney (1723-1793), a colonial South Carolinian, was a remarkable woman who broke gender norms by influencing the colony’s agriculture and business investment plans. She is best remembered for her experiments with indigo and early investment in the indigo market. This receipt book provides fascinating insights into the life of a matriarch on a large eighteenth-century plantation, and it includes detailed instructions for cooking, entertaining, keeping house, and tending to the sick. It contains an interesting mix of recipes for preparing food and drink, along with cures for a wide range of ailments ranging from head lice to heart conditions.