That’s a recipe for marble cake, 1/2 vanilla 1/2 molasses, clearly written by someone who already knows how to make a cake, but needs little more than to remember the ingredients. The Eclipse may have had many wonderful recipes, but so did the owner of this book and what better place to write down your recipes than a cookbook?

“Doughnuts 1 1/2 cup sugar 1 cups butter 1 1/2 cups sweet milk 3 eggs Pickel for Hams Make a brine strong enough to float an egg to each one hundred pounds of meat add 2 pounds of sugar and 2 cups of saltpeter” 

“Cream Pie One pint milk 2 large spoonful sugar 1 tablespoon flour yolk two eggs white 1 beat eggs sugar flour together let milk get boiling hot pour in beaten parts stir till hot make crust bake fill with custard heat the white of eggs stiff spread on top return to oven brown slightly __(?)”

Our challenge with this item is that the pencil is not only light but also prone to smudging and fading as people touch the pages. In addition we have clippings from newspapers and magazines that are acidic and attached with old and drying adhesive. Digitizing this book allows us to share its contents more widely while minimizing the risk of loosing the ephemeral aspects. We then have the opportunity to transcribe the hand written recipes to preserve that information even if legibility of the handwriting continues to deteriorate. 

We still want this volume to be available for use and that makes this book a perfect candidate for box with an integrated cradle. The box insures everything stays together even if a clipping becomes detached and the cradle minimizes the need to hold the book with fingers over the penciled recipes.