older vs. newer editions

[leviathan]

Does it make a difference? And, if it does, which one would you recommend?

I have Marcella Hazan's original 'The Classic Italian Cookbook' so would it be worth it to get her Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking if Essentials is just a combination of her earlier works. Did she tweak the recipes, and if so, which version would be better? (Its strange that the copyright for The Classic Italian Cookbook is earlier than the reported publication date I found on Internet)

I also have older editions of James Beard's American Cookery and New York Times Cookbook by Craig Claiborne, and I'm just wondering if there's any signifigant changes between the older versions and the updated ones.

[Torrilin]

The only cookbook that I've found so far where edition matters is The Joy of Cooking. The recent editions (iirc from around 1999 or thereabouts) cut out most of the food safety information, preserving information and preparing wild game information. I do not customarily use most of it, but I'd be a lot worse off as a cook if I hadn't had it to read when I was growing up.

Generally, a cookbook doesn't change notably from one edition to the next. A misprinted quantity may be fixed, or an unclear direction might get some clarity. The "better" comes from how well the book is suited to your kitchen.

As far as copyright dates go, Amazon.com is usually fairly accurate. Otherwise, I'd just check a paper copy of the book. Most online booksellers aren't particularly concerned with the copyright date being exactly correct.

[Toliver]

I would think titles by specific authors (Beard, Julia, Jacques, etc) wouldn't change from edition to edition.

It's more likely the "umbrella" type cookbooks (not written by a specific author and not focusing on one cuisine) would change from edition to edition. The "Joy of Cooking" is a good example. Another would be the "Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook". There are recipes in my mom's circa 1953 edition that are not in the current edition. Which sucks if you grew up on the recipes in the 1953 edition (luckily, I was able to buy a 1953 edition on eBay).

Your example of Marcella isn't quite the same situation since her "Essentials" is a sort-of "Best of" her previous "Classic Italian Cooking" and "More Classic Italian Cooking".

You can always check the cookbooks out from your local library and take the time to compare the cookbooks side by side.

[MaxH]

The only cookbook that I've found so far where edition matters is The Joy of Cooking. ... I'd be a lot worse off as a cook if I hadn't had it to read when I was growing up.

Not to argue with that point, you'd likely be far worse off still, had you started with the original. It was basically a midwestern family cookbook based on canned food, sold as a fund-raiser. Each later edition was more or less unrecognizeable but even the major 1943 edition was pretty limited (when I checked a couple dozen savory recipes in it some years ago they all had the same seasonings: Salt, pepper, and paprika). It is as if the title became a "brand" -- like Hoyle for card games -- for whatever each edition's writers wanted to include.

How much books change by edition depends on the book. In particular Marcella Hazan's original (1973) and second (1978) books were very well written and popular, millions of copies are on people's shelves. They are to northern Italian cooking in the US what Julia Child is to French (Julia Child said so too). They also led (very indirectly it's true) to the original public cooking discussion forum on the Internet (1982), of which what you're now reading is a remote descendant.