Nach Waxman of Kitchen Arts & Letters Inc. in NYC compiled a list of the books he thinks are indispensable to a serious culinary library.
While the list does not encompass every great book written, all the books, in one way or another, make an important contribution to our understanding of food growing and raising, marketing, preparation, and consumption.

Nearly all are twentieth-century publications, with a strong bias toward more recent and more accessible works.

There are some works here that are considered or suggested as the core works of a cook's reference shelf.

This list includes, in order:
* General Cookbooks
* Regional Cookbooks: 1) African, 2) American, 3) Asian, 4) European, 5) French, 6) Italian, 7) Jewish, 8) Western Hemisphere,
* Single Subject Books,
* Baking and Dessert,
* Vegetarian and Vegan (continued)

To be included: part 2, which will include two of the remaining books in the Vegetarian/Vegan category.

As well as the remaining categories, books on:
* Chefs
* References
* History
* Reading