As a rule, cookbook collectors are not in it for the money. Most of us love to cook (and/or bake), appreciate the advice and inspiration that cookbooks provide, and enjoy learning about different cultures through the lens of food and cooking. We generally do not measure the value of the book by dollars and cents, but that does not mean that all cookbooks are worth the same amount of money. Tasting Table brings us a story of how a handful of vintage cookbooks could net you a small fortune (assuming you are willing to sell them).

It will comes as no surprise that a first edition of Mastering the Art of French Cooking can fetch a commanding price. Only 5,000 copies were originally printed, and the asking price for one can range from $2,500 to $25,000 USD. Similarly, an original edition of Joy of Cooking (of which 3,000 copies were printed) sells for around $9,000. Other vintage cookbooks command a range of prices that hover between $1,000 and $10,000. Basically, if it is old, iconic, and rare, it may be worth a lot of money.

It is difficult to imagine a modern cookbook ending up as a priceless artifact. For one thing, the volume of cookbooks being printed every year is astounding. While there are contemporary authors who will go down in history as being pioneers for a certain cuisine or methodology, most of their books are printed in relatively large quantities. Of course, several decades hence, many of those copies will have been pitched in the dumpster by a relative cleaning out their grandmother's dusty old things and what is now plentiful will become rare. Perhaps one day a signed first edition of Modernist Cuisine will sell for a jaw-dropping amount (although some would say the initial selling price is itself jaw-droppingly high).

Frightening dumpster scenarios like the one above compel many collectors to arrange for a library to receive their collections so they are not lost to the landfill. My collection is small enough that it will not be a candidate for a library, and as of now I don't have a plan for what will happen to my books once I am no longer in need of them. One thing I do know is that I am not selling any of them now. They belong in a category of items that are priceless to me, regardless of what someone else values them. (Okay, I confess - if I had one worth $25,000, I might consider selling it. But I don't.)

On the flip side, I am not so much of a collector (nor am I wealthy enough) that I would consider shelling out tens of thousands of dollars for a particular book, but it is interesting to see how much rare volumes are worth. I am curious about who is buying these scarce items. Do they genuinely appreciate them or is it just an investment? I would guess the former because cookbooks are not exactly objets d'art, and I do not think bragging rights for owning a first edition Joy of Cooking would approach that of possessing an original Warhol. Perhaps I am wrong about that - what do you think?