author

Arnold James Cooley

Known for practical Victorian reference books packed with recipes, formulas, and household know-how, this 19th-century English writer created works that were meant to be used, not just admired. His best-known cyclopaedias brought together advice on trades, pharmacy, domestic economy, and everyday problem-solving in one place.

2 Audiobooks

Cooley's Cyclopædia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I

Cooley's Cyclopædia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I

by Arnold James Cooley, Richard Vine Tuson

Cooley's Cyclopædia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume II

Cooley's Cyclopædia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume II

by Arnold James Cooley, Richard Vine Tuson

About the author

Arnold James Cooley was a 19th-century English author and compiler best remembered for practical reference works rather than novels or poems. Records available through library and public-domain sources identify him with books such as A Cyclopaedia of Several Thousand Practical Receipts, The Pharmaceutical Latin Grammar, and The Toilet and Cosmetic Arts in Ancient and Modern Times.

His most famous work, later expanded as Cooley’s Cyclopædia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades, gathered an enormous range of information on medicine, pharmacy, household management, and the working arts. The scale of the project helped give his name lasting recognition among readers interested in historical recipes, domestic science, and early technical reference books.

Some public records list his life dates as 1816 to 1881. Even where details of his personal life are thin, his books still offer a vivid window into Victorian everyday knowledge and the era’s drive to collect useful information in one place.