(*NEW ARRIVAL*) (Cocktails) Jerry Thomas. The Bar-Tender's Guide or How to Mix All Kinds of Plain and Fancy Drinks

Illus. with wood engravings. Dec. red cloth. Danbury, CT: Behrens Publishing, c.1930's-50's.

Jeremiah (Jerry) P. Thomas (1830-1885) was perhaps the best-known American bartender of the 19th century; because of his pioneering work in popularizing cocktails across the United States, he is considered "the father of American mixology." In addition to writing the seminal work on cocktails, his creativity and showmanship established the image of the bartender as a creative professional. As such, he was often nicknamed "Professor" Jerry Thomas. In 1862, Thomas finished Bar-Tender’s Guide (alternately titled How to Mix Drinks or The Bon-Vivant’s Companion), the first drink book ever published in the United States. The book collected and codified what was then an oral tradition of recipes from the early days of cocktails, including some of his own creations; the guide laid down the principles for formulating mixed drinks of all categories. The first edition of the guide includes the first written recipes of such cocktails as the Brandy Daisy, Fizz, Flip, Sour and variations of the earliest form of mixed drink, Punch.

The Behrens Publishing Company was an early-to-mid 20th-century publisher located in Danbury, Connecticut, best known for publishing budget or later editions of classic cocktail and bartending guides such as this one. A manuscript cocktail recipe for a "Recess Club Daiquiri" written on the front free endpaper dates this edition (from the style of handwriting) to the 1930's-50's.

Fine and bright.