I have two versions of Joy of Cooking, '75 and '97. I bought the first at a used bookstore in Hawaii. But when the "new" one came out I had to have it, and it is my bible. Most cookbooks I keep upstairs in a huge wall of bookshelves, but in a small side table in the dining room I keep the 6-10 books I refer back to most often, plus a few appliance manuals that I occasionally need to use (for example, I recently purchased a 3-bowl cuisinart food processor that I sometimes have a question about). In the cookbook collection is a shelf of chef's biographies, memoirs, and books more about food culture than recipes.
One of my favorites of the collection is The Bull Cook and Authentic Historical Recipes and Practices, by George Leonard Herter and Berthe E. Herter, of Herter's, Waseca, Minnesota (just reading off the cover), a cookbook copyrighted in 1960 and given to my parents in 1965 when they were stationed at Stead AFB outside of Reno. I love that there's still a bookmark in it that advertizes their next book, "George the Housewife and How to Diet and Never Be Hungry". Hmmm ... now that I think of it, I've never googled to find out what Herter's is/was. The book is funny as heck, and some recipes start with how to plant the vegetable, or how to skin the animal. I went up and got the book to write this and now am determined to re-read it. The author is VERY opinionated on everything!
, that is, the 1975 edition. I also have the 1998 edition, and it was written by professional chefs, and isn't nearly as good or as complete.
I honestly have lost count!!! I think I have about 50.I have a few regulars that I use all the time, Joy of Cooking, Better Homes and Gardens, and my oldest that I got for my 12th birthday ( 40 plus yrs ago) Betty Crocker. 
I thought about scanning them but I just love that tactile experience of feeling the paper, going through the folders, and knowing that they did the same thing.
