Asenath Hatch Nicholson was born on 24 February 1792 in Chelsea, Vermont, and died on 15 May 1855 in Jersey City, New Jersey. Heavily influenced by Sylvester Graham's dietary program, along with her husband she ran a boarding house on Grahamite principles and in 1835 she published the first American vegetarian cookbook, Nature's Own Book (the first American vegan cookbook, The Hygeian Home Cook-Book, was written by Russell Thacher Trall in 1874). According to the Vegan Society, "The first animal-free cookery book, Kitchen Philosophy for Vegetarians, was published in England in 1849 by William Horsell of London. A review of the book claimed that '…butter and eggs are excluded' (Vegetarian Advocate (September 1849): 10), making it the first known 'vegan' cookbook." While the authorship is anonymous, Asenath Nicholson is believed to be the author of this cookbook. Nicholson published several accounts of her travels in Ireland in the 1840s, including an eyewitness account of the Irish Famine.

 

 

(Anon.) Kitchen Philosophy for Vegetarians. William Horsell, 1849.

Note: WorldCat does not list any extant editions.

Nature’s Own Book. New York: Wilbur & Whipple, 1835.