Famous cookbooks from the past, in chronological order, include:

* De re coquinaria (The Art of Cooking) (late 4th / early 5th century) by Apicius
* Kitab al-Tabikh (The Book of Dishes) (10th century) by Ibn Sayyiir al-Warraq
* Kitab al-Tabikh (The Book of Dishes) (1226) by Muhammad bin Hasan al-Baghdadi
* Liber de Coquina (The Book of Cookery) (late 13th -early 14th century) by two unknown authors from France and Italy
* The Forme of Cury (14th century) by the Master Cooks of King Richard II of England
* Viandier (14th century) by Guillaume Tirel alias Taillevent
* De honesta voluptate et valetudine (1475) by Bartolomeo Platina - the first cookbook printed in a native language (Italian) in 1487
* The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie Knight Opened by Kenelm Digby (1669)
* The Compleat Housewife (first edition 1742) by Eliza Smith
* The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy (1747) by Hannah Glasse
* Le Cuisinier Royal (1817) by Alexandre Viard
* Larousse Gastronomique, the classic book of gastronomy
* Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861) by Mrs Beeton
* El Cocinero Puerto - Riqueño 1859 (author unknown)
* La scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangiar bene (1891) by Pellegrino Artusi
* The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book (1896) by Fannie Merritt Farmer
* The Settlement Cook Book (1901) and 34 subsequent editions by Lizzie Black Kander
* Various cookbooks (between 1903 and 1934) by Auguste Escoffier
* The Joy of Cooking (1931) by Irma Rombauer
* The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook (1954) by Alice B. Toklas
* Cooking with the Chinese Flavor (1956) and subsequent books by Lin Tsuifeng ("Mrs. Lin Yutang")
* Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961) by Julia Child
* Helen Gurley Brown's Single Girl's Cookbook (1969) by Helen Gurley Brown
* Diet for a Small Planet (1971) by Frances Moore Lappé
* Moosewood Cookbook (1978) by Mollie Katzen

Source: Wikipedia.org