Cocktails / How to Mix them / A practical book (FIRST PRINTING, IN ORIGINAL DUST JACKET)
Language: English
Published by Herbert Jenkins Limited, London, 1922
- First Edition
- Hardcover
- Used





Seller: Cat's Curiosities, Pahrump, NV, U.S.A.Cat's Curiosities
AbeBooks seller since June 20, 2007
Condition: Used - Very good
US$ 582.50
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Title page credits the author as simply "Robert of the Embassy Club." About 1/6th of jacket front panel is torn away and missing from bottom right, but enough of the author credit remains there to discern that it matches images of this jacket found elsewhere, crediting author there as "'Robert' of the American Bar, Casino Municipal, Nice, and late of the Embassy Club, London." Priced "2/6 Net" to spine. This Jenkins first edition -- a 16mo of 3-3/4 X 6-1/2 inches (9.5 X 16.5 cm.) in orange cloth-covered boards -- is dated MCMXXII (1922) to title page; no later dates or printings mentioned. In his introduction, the author cites the (likely apocryphal) tale of the rural American innkeeper who lost his prize fighting cock and promised the hand of his "beautiful daughter" to anyone who should find and return it. Of course, a dashing Army officer shows up with the bird under his arm. "The squire, full of joy, produced drinks that all might toast the tail of the cock, who had not lost a single feather. His daughter, either by accident, or from excitement at the sight of her future husband, mixed whisky, vermouth, bitters and ice together. Everybody liked this delicious concoction so much that it was christened on the spot 'Cocktail.'" Few innkeepers of our acquaintance would promise their daughters sight unseen to the first man who proves capable of catching a loose chicken, but of course the lass's youth and attractiveness remain largely conjectural. (They always look better after a few "cocktails.") One of the most sought-after of (American) Prohibition-era bartending books, essentially unknown as a jacketed first, Belgian Robert Vermeire's (1891-1976) book may be the first to offer a recipe for the Sidecar, includes various recipes for medicinal drinks (the hot toddy for a cold, absinthe for a headache, champagne for seasickness, etc.) and is also notable for recording the inventors of many of these recipes, when they were known. Frequent reference is made here to the measure known as the "Gill, or Noggin," which the author explains to be 0.142 liters, or a quarter of a pint, known in many kitchens as "half a cup." And, of course, "Care should be taken to prevent insects from entering the mixing bottles." The author worked at London's Royal Automobile Club, The Criterion, Embassy Club, bars in France and Belgium, and at his own Robert's Bar. Includes (of course) cobblers, coolers, daisies, fizzes, flips, frappes, highballs, juleps, pousse cafes, rickeys, slings, smashes, sours, toddiers, etc. Alcoholiana; bartending guide. 112 pp. including index, followed by 16 pp. advertisements, including Robert Vermeire's own offer, "Interviews arranged by appointment, Moderate terms, 112 Church Street, Kensington," to help hoteliers and restaurateurs set up their own "Cocktail Bars," as well as an ad for W.& A. Gilbey, Wine Growers & Distillers, "by appointment to his Majesty King George V." Here reduced from $4,500.…
Seller Inventory # 008365
Bibliographic details
- Title
- Cocktails / How to Mix them / A practical book (FIRST PRINTING, IN ORIGINAL DUST JACKET)
- Author
- 'Robert (Vermeire) of The Embassy Club
- Publisher
- Herbert Jenkins Limited, London
- Publication year
- 1922
- Condition
- Very Good
- Dust jacket
- Fair
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- Edition
- 1st Edition
- Printing
- 1st Printing
- Dimensions
- 16mo - over 5¾ - 6¾" tall
- Seller catalogs
- Cookbooks, cuisine, Rare Books
Cat's Curiosities
Pahrump, NV, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since June 20, 2007
Shipping rates within U.S.A.
| Item | 5 to 14 business days | 3 to 6 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | US$ 6.00 | US$ 14.00 |
Payment methods
Store description
Eclectic vintage and out-of-print collectable condition books and records in every genre. Cat's Curiosities closed our brick-and-mortar location in Las Vegas in late 2016, and is now an Internet-only seller, specializing in Nevada & The West; Free-market & Austrian Economics; Vintage vinyl LP records (many signed); Century-old juvenile series books; Health & Medicine; Cookbooks (many signed) & Alcoholiana; Travel, Exploration, & Geology.
Specialty
Nevada and The West, Free-market & Austrian Economics: Vintage vinyl LP records (many signed); Century-old juvenile seriSeller's business information
Cat's Curiosities
NV, U.S.A.
Terms of sale
While we mark down our unsold books on a regular basis, our "BEST PRICE" on any given day is the price posted. We purposely avoid selling on the "Make me an offer" auction sites, where every book is "acceptable" and paperback reprints of "The Great Gatsby" bearing ISBNs and barcodes are listed as "published 1925." And we DECLINE to jack up our prices by 20 percent so we can offer every supplicant a supposed 10 or 15 percent "discount," thus turning anyone who simply pays our asking price into a "sucker." NOTE TO TOBACCO PROHIBITION ZEALOTS AND THOSE WITH 'ALLERGIES': Cat's Curiosities sells used books, which can average between 40 and 180 years of age. We attempt to identify books which have a damp or musty smell, when we sell them at all. Otherwise, while our books are currently stored in a low-humidity, temperature-controlled, smoke-free location, buyers should assume used books have previously been shelved inside human habitations with animal pets co-resident and have been exposed over the decades to some combination of wood smoke, tobacco smoke, leather dressing, or other aromatic agents unknown to us. We are not responsible for allergies, likely caused without your consent by "physicians" bribed to cripple your infant immune system with excessive toxic "vaccinations" containing poisonous mercury preservatives. We offer no certificates of hypoallergenic purity. Those wishing to make symbolic gestures of support for the prohibition of tobacco and other medicinal plant extracts by hopping about and shrieking that perfectly normal used books "reek like an ashtray" should apply elsewhere. (Pristine new softcover reprints are widely available Online. Also see "Smoke and Mirrors," in Bennett & DiLorenzo's "From Pathology to Politics / Public Health in America," Transaction Publishers 2000, pp. 103-105.) SIGNATURE REQUIRED: We now ship most parcels valued at $90 or more "signature required," at our expense. Buyers are responsible to provide a secure mailing address, and should be on the lookout for a "notice of attempt to deliver," should no signer be available when the mailman calls.. Email vin@catscuriosities.com. For return and refund information see ABE policies. No refunds will be issued in the case of money orders "accidentally issued for too much" -- we're wise to that one.
Shipping terms
Due to expensive books disappearing there -- indicating local postal authorities are either incompetent or corrupt -- we no longer ship to Italy or South Africa. Orders usually ship within 2 business days. Shipping costs are based on books weighing 2.2 lbs., or 1 kg. If your book order is heavy or oversized, we may contact you to let you know extra shipping is required. Please make sure your e-mail program will accept such an inquiry from an ABE Books address. "SHIPPING RATE" is a small pull-down menu at ABE. Media mail is the default setting; you may choose "Priority," which costs more but carries some automatic insurance protection, if you wish. To keep our basic shipping rate competitive, we do not routinely pay out of pocket to insure books valued under $50. HOWEVER (SIGNATURE REQUIRED): We now ship most parcels valued at $90 or more "signature required," at our expense. Customers are responsible to provide a secure shipping address. In the case of shipments valued over $90. Should no adult signer be available when the mailman calls, buyers should be on the lookout for a "notice of attempt to deliver." We ship in white pasteboard boxes -- not plastic bags. In our experience, deliveries to France and Western Australia can take from three to 13 weeks, regardless of shipping method. We cannot control Customs delays in such countries, the luxurious seasonal vacation schedules of government functionaries in socialist regimes, nor the proudly announced preference of Australian postal authorities to spend a week or more shipping even "Priority" packages across the continent from Sydney to Perth by truck -- camels apparently not being consistently available.