SCHMIDT, William (THE ONLY WILLIAM). Fancy Drinks and Popular Beverages, How to Prepare and Serve Them [COCKTAIL RECIPES]. New York: Dick and Fitzgerald, 1896.

First Edition. Octavo, disbound, 155 pages plus ads. One of two titles by Schmidt, containing the mixed drink chapters from The Flowing Bowl, which is a much larger book and contains Schmidt's version of the history of various beverages. "The Only William receives much less attention from historians today than Jerry Thomas and Harry Johnson, yet it could be argued that he was far more famous in his lifetime than either of them. William was renowned for creating new drinks. And at one point he was estimated to have invented a new one daily. He even created a “$5 cocktail” at a time when drink prices hovered around 15 cents." [EUVS Digital Collection] This copy lacking binding, but makes a good candidate for rebinding, textually Very Good.

Price: $450.00