C.F. Lawlor

Early edition of this very scarce classic cocktail manual, by the onetime chief bartender of Cincinnati's Grand Hotel and the Burnet House.

• C.F. Lawlor (American).
• The mixicologist or how to mix all kinds of fancy drinks containing clear and reliable directions for mixing all the different beverages used in the United States, embracing jueps, cobblers, cocktails, punches, durkees, "trilbys," etc. etc., in endless variety, with some recipes on cooking, and other general information: an up-to-date recipe book.
• (Cincinnati): (Lawlor & Co), (1895).
• 169 pages followed by [5] pages of advertisements.
• Bound in original gilt-lettered brown cloth.

"Is it better for a man to drink whiskey or to stick to beer? Now, that is a very proper question for thousands of people, and it is very important that it should be answered correctly."

An authoritative guide for the aspiring barman, The Mixicologist extends beyond recipes alone to cover all aspects of the trade: essential stock for a first-class bar, the history of brewing and distilling, and the proper attitude, principles, and deportment for a young person just entering the profession. This early edition precedes the later Revised Edition, but includes two press notices from the Cincinnati Papers praising Lawlor as the "prince of mixicologists" (he was also the inventor and sole holder of the title, the simple "mixologist" being insufficient to his talents). The text through page 116 is identical to that of the first edition; beyond that point are a new and fascinating array of advertisements for Cincinnati's finest reliable dry goods, cigars, hatters, lithographers, corned beef dealers, dye houses, dairies, dentists, frogs, oysters, and young parrots ("warranted to learn to talk"), as well as any number of brewers and liquor merchants.

C.F. Lawlor was the bartender at Cincinnati's Burnet House, and formerly the chief bartender at the Grand Hotel. An endorsement from The Enquirer (Cincinnati) in 1895 states, "As a prince of mixicologists C.F. Lawlor, of the Burnet House, has a national reputation; it only remained for him to write a book to gain immortality. Lawlor's commentaries on aspects of the bar trade ("The Model Bartender," "Preparation for Customer," and "Don'ts for Young Bartenders") alternate with the ads, and include two essays not present in the first: "The Wine Cellar" and "Cups and their Customs," which ends with the admonishment "When you drink–think."

Rare. OCLC locates only five copies of this issue, and just thirteen copies of all editions. An unusually attractive copy of this essential historical reference for all mixers and historians of fancy drinks. Read more: A.W. Noling, A Bibliography of Books and Booklets on Beverages, Their History and Manufacture, 249.