I was drawn to this typeface because it reminds me of Celtic fonts (which I love), so I did a little research but it's actually based on the Batarde script (late Gothic). The AIGA website has a full description of the book, and the font is listed as 10/11 Intertype Waverly (text), Amsterdam Libra (display). The book is from 1952, with cloth over boards, pre­printed by two-color letterpress.

I like its elegance, and think it's appropriate on a recipe book which is probably full of tasty, gourmet foods! At least the font suggests that. Helvetica would definitely NOT have been a good choice...simple and plain wouldn't be a good choice for a gourmet recipe book. Perhaps more appropriate on, say, a Vegan or health-conscious book though, since there would be a better parallel for people who are food-conscious and want to "strip down" their meals to healthy basics.

Here's a bit about the derived font:

Bâtarde
This script is a hybrid of the formal style with a cursive script, and was widely used in the manuscripts of the later middle ages. If you compare it with the Gothic script in the last example, you will see many similarities in the letter forms, but you will also see that it is more flowing and less angular.(From the leavesofgold link below).

And here is a Celtic font for comparison. There was no official name for this particular font, though the source mentioned its alphabet has no capital letters, which probably means it is an ancient alphabet?

Blanche

Other sources:

http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/scripts/examples/batarde3.htm

http://designarchives.aiga.org/

http://www.stellerjay.com/books/images/jaybks1243.jpg

http://www.leavesofgold.org/learn/children/how_made/scripts.html