Beschreibung:

THOMAS, JERRY [JEREMIAH P.] How to mix drinks: or, The bon-vivant's companion, containing clear and reliable directions for mixing all the beverages used in the United States, together with the most popular British, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish recipes, embracing punches, juleps, cobblers, etc., etc., etc., in endless variety. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, [1862]. Presumed first edition, later state, with the price of $2.50 (rather than $1.50 for the first state), with the revised title (the first state reads "The Bar-Tender's Guide"). Publisher's pictorial dark-brown cloth in gilt and blind with cover vignette lettered "Price $2.50." 7 1/4 x 4 7/8 inches (18.5 x 12 cm); 244, [8] pp. ads, occasional illustrations in text. Head and toe of spine chipped, corners of covers somewhat abraded (especially the lower), occasional very minor foxing but in all a clean example . Thomas's signature cocktail was "The Blue Blazer," a (literally) fiery concoction, developed by him at the El Dorado gambling saloon in San Francisco: it is as much performance as drink. He worked for many major American hotels (and was remarkably well paid for the time), was a bon vivant and man about town, and an art collector. He was apparently among the first to display the drawings of Thomas Nast in the New York bar he owned. This is his first published work, and appears to be the first American work on the cocktail (the term is used in the text), with recipes for many comparatively new-fangled drinks, along with the classic juleps and neguses. Appended is a work by Christian Schulz on the manufacture of cordials, liquors and syrups. C