Old cooking books are interesting, but the names often heard are not necessarily good.

Mrs Beaton's "Book of Household Management (also Sanitary, Medical and Legal Memoranda)," often called a cookbook, is a monster compendium about running a large, well-to-do household, first printed in 1861.
Mrs. Beaton was not a cook, she was the lady of the house and its overseer and administrator. She may have ben able to boil water, but could not have been trusted with a soufle. Her information came from her kitchen and household staff.

Hugo Zieman and Mrs. F. L. Gillette, 1889, "The White House Cookbook," is more practical and much more simple. The recipes are suitable for a middle class household of the time, but never were used in the "White House" in Washington, or any other large house.

Of these books, the first to use accurate measurements and to be based on sound culinary principles was "The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book," first issued in 1894, written by culinary pioneer Fannie M. Farmer, and later carried on by Wilma Lord Perkins under the title, "Fannie Farmer's Boston Cooking School Cookbook."
This book remains the first source in our house, especially the 8th Edition of 1946. Later editions simplified some of the recipes, removing recipes gleaned from fine restaurants, reducing the cream and rich ingredients, and which made the book a prize beyond compare.
Copies of the eight ed. are available used at reasonable cost.