Julia Carolyn Child once said, "find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it." These are words she lived by with her interest in French Cuisine. Julia Child took her passion for cooking and turned it into a career. Her debut cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking was followed by successful television programs and ever more cookbooks.

In 1962 Child appeared on a book review television show which led to her first cooking show. The French Chef debuted on television in 1963 and was an immediate success. The show ran for ten years and was followed by her second book, The French Chef Cookbook, which featured recipes she had demonstrated on the program. In 1971 Child released Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume Two in collaboration with Simone Beck, who had also collaborated on the first book.

Child quickly became an icon who was revered by women across America. She was authentic and approachable and women loved her show. Child passed away in 2004 but her kitchen lives on at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. A first edition of this American icon's Mastering the Art of French Cooking signed by Child has an estimated value of about $1,000. If you would like a Julia Child recipe book for your collection without spending a fortune, consider signed editions of some of her other books, such as signed, later edition of Child's Menu Cookbook, which can be found for as low as $175.