Section 4—The Bibulous Bibliography—1920-1933

This list of cocktail-related books is a work in progress, so please do let us know if you have additional resources or information we should include. After each entry are known sources of the work, for many of the older ones free downloadable copies, and commentary from Dinah on her research experience with this resource. For sources prior to 1950 we've attempted to locate confirmation of the book's definite existence at that time, usually through Library of Congress Copyright records, contemporary reviews or advertising, or similar sources from the year of publication.

1920-1933 (Prohibition)

1920. Anonymous. Cocktails: Do them right, and not too slight. (With the compliments of the Cunard Steam Ship Company, Limited, Budapest). ?: Metropolitan Club of Washington, D.C.: Available as a PDF from EUVS.
1920. "Paul". Down the Hatch!: Drinks as mixed by "Paul" of the well known Remos [sic](popular gin fizz palace) New Orleans, LA.: Available as a PDF from EUVS.
1920. Stockbridge, Bertha E.L. What To Drink: The blue book of beverages. Recipes and directions for making and serving non-alcoholic drinks for all occasions. New York and London: D. Appleton & Co.: Available as a PDF from EUVS (and same copy from Internet Archive) and from HathiTrust (and the same copy from Google).
The book's existence in 1920 is confirmed by its listing in the Library of Congress' Catalog of Copyright Entries.

All non-alcoholic drinks, but many are clearly mocktail versions of existing (alcoholic) cocktails, often under the same name.
1921. Himmelreich, Victor Hugo. American Drinks. Prague.: Available as a PDF from EUVS.
Existence of the book in 1921 is confirmed by a listing for it in an issue of Nasě Kniha from that year.
c.1921. Torelli, Adolphe. Guide du Barman et du Gourmet Chic: Première edition contenant 690 recettes. Nice: Imprimerie Niçoise.: Title page states "1921-1922" which I suspect (based on similar patterns among the Prohibition-era souvenir cocktail recipe books of Cuba) refers to the current season, for which the book would have been prepared in 1921.
Available as a PDF from EUVS.
1922. [McElhone], Harry. Harry of Ciro's ABC of Mixing Cocktails. ?London?: ?Odham's Press?.: The book's existence in 1922 is confirmed by its listing in the English Catalogue of Books.
1922. Slagter, W. Hoe Maakt Men American Plain- en Fancy Drinks. Amsterdam: W.B. Moransard.: Available as a PDF from EUVS.
1922. [Vermeire], Robert. Cocktails: How to Mix Them, Second Printing. London: Herbert Jenkins.: Available as PDF from HathiTrust (and the same scan from Google Books).
Available as a quality reproduction from Cocktail Kingdom, with a new introduction by Paul Clarke. (This reproduction does not state that it is taken from the second printing, but the front and back matter, including the advertising pages at the end, are identical to it. François Monti confirms that both the first and second printings were from 1922 noting "it is listed as such in the British Library and Vermeire himself mentions it as the book's release year in its French translation / adaptation from 1938". I was also able to find an advertisement from The Publishers' Circular & Booksellers' Record of October 1922 which states "Tenth thousand" after the listing for this title.)
1923. [McElhone], Harry. Harry of Ciro's ABC of Mixing Cocktails. ?London?: Christopher & Co.: Special gift edition for Christopher & Co.
Available as a PDF from EUVS.
1925. Toye, Nina & A.H. Adair. Drinks—Long & Short. Pref. by X. Marcel Boulestin. London: W. Heinemann, Ltd.: The book's existence in 1925 is confirmed by its listing in the English Catalogue of Books.
1926. Anonymous [but attributed to Frederic Lawrence Knowles]. The Cocktail Book: A sideboard manual for gentlemen (New Revised Edition). Boston: L.C. Page & Company.: Available as a PDF from EUVS (U.S. edition. Third printing, March 1926. First printing was May 1925 and second printing was October 1925, according to statement in this copy.)
1926. Anonymous [but attributed to Frederic Lawrence Knowles]. The Cocktail Book: A sideboard manual for gentlemen. London: John Hamilton, Ltd.: Available for online reading from EUVS (British edition. Second printing, December 1926. First printing was November 1926, according to statement in this copy.)
1927. Anonymous. El Arte de Hacer un Cocktail y Algo Mas [The Art of Mixing a Cocktail & More]. ?Havana?, Cuba: Fernández Solana y Ca.: Available for online reference from EUVS.
Available in a translated reproduction from Amazon, with a foreword by Anistatia Miller.
1927. Judge Jr. Here's How!. ?New York?: John Day.: Very different from subsequent printings published through Leslie-Judge Company. Per David Wondrich, this is an important book; it introduces the French 75, and it appears to have been drawn on by Craddock for The Savoy Cocktail Book.
1927. Judge Jr. Here's How!. New York: Leslie-Judge Company.: Very different from earlier printings published through John Day. Available as a PDF from EUVS.
1927. McElhone, Harry. Barflies and Cocktails. Paris: Lecram Press.: Available as a quality reproduction from Cocktail Kingdom, with a new introduction by David Wondrich.
1928. Anonymous [but attributed to Frederic Lawrence Knowles]. The Cocktail Book: A sideboard manual for gentlemen (New Revised Edition). Boston: L.C. Page & Company.: Available as a PDF from HathiTrust (U.S. edition. Sixth printing, November 1928. First printing was May 1925, second printing October 1925, third printing March 1926, fourth printing December 1926, and fifth printing June 1927, according to statement in this copy. Prohibition certainly doesn't seem to have slowed this one down!)
1929. [Thenon, Georges Gabriel] "Rip". Cocktails de Paris. Paris: Demangel.: Available as PDF from EUVS (in French).
c.1920s. Seutter, Carl A. Der Mixologist: Illustriertes internationales getränke-buch (5th edition). Nordhausen: Heinrich Killinger, Verlagsgesellschaft, M.B.H.: Available as a PDF from EUVS.
1930. Boothby, William T. "Cocktail Bill" Boothby's World Drinks and How To Prepare Them: The standard authority as originally compiled by Hon. Wm. T. Boothby ... completely revised and greatly enlarged into an unabridged encyclopedia of all popular beverages (Lettered on cover: "Swallows"). San Francisco: The Recorder & Publishing Co.: The book's existence in 1930 is confirmed by its listing in the Library of Congress' Catalog of Copyright Entries which shows it being 160 pages long (though that may only represent the highest numbered page).
A paperbound edition was also available at the same time, which was not lettered "Swallows" on the cover; this is confirmed by its listing in the Library of Congress' Catalog of Copyright Entries.
1930. Craddock, Harry. The Savoy Cocktail Book: being in the main a complete compendium of the cocktails rickeys, daisies ... and other drinks of ... 1930 ... with sundry notes of amusement and interest concerning them, together with subtle observations upon wines and their special occasions. Being in the particular an elucidation of the manners and customs of people of quality in a period of some equality (First British edition). London: Constable & Co.
1930. Craddock, Harry. The Savoy Cocktail Book: Being in the main a complete compendium of the Cocktails, Rickeys, Daisies, Slings, Shrubs, Smashes, Fizzes, Juleps, Cobblers, Fixes, and other Drinks, known and greatly appreciated in the year of grace 1930, with sundry notes of amusement and interest concerning them, together with subtle Observations upon Wines and their special occasions (First US edition, simultaneous with first British edition). New York: Richard Smith.: Rabelais Books notes that the first printing included an errata slip and that the Bacardi Cocktail was not printed in the text until the second printing. (I'm not certain if this refers to both the British and US printings.)
Wondrich, in Imbibe 2nd edition p.326, says Craddock used Ensslin’s 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks as a prime source, getting many drinks from it including the Aviation Cocktail, the Affinity, the Fair and Warmer, the Fluffy Ruffles, and the Raymond Hitchcocktail.
1930. Elliott, Virginia & Phil D. Stong. Shake 'Em Up: A practical handbook of polite drinking. New York: Brewer and Warren, Inc.: The book's existence in 1930 is confirmed by its listing in the Library of Congress' Catalog of Copyright Entries.
1930. Sundin, Knut W. Two Hundred Selected Drinks. Göteborg: Ragnar Orstadius Boktryckeri.: Available as a PDF from EUVS.

According to the author's foreword this is an English edition of a similar book of recipes he had made available previously in two editions, which were presumably in Swedish.
1931. de Baralt, Blanche Z[acharie]. Cuban Cookery: Gastronomic secrets of the tropics, with an appendix on Cuban drinks. Havana, Cuba: Editorial Hermes.: Available as PDF from EUVS.
1931. Craddock, Harry. The Savoy Cocktail Book (Second Edition with Booth's Gin).: I learned about this from Jörg Meyer who has or had a copy.
1931. Crockett, Albert Stevens. Old Waldorf Bar Days: With the cognomina and composition of four hundred and ninety-one appealing appetizers and salutary potations long known, admired and served at the famous brass rail; ...also... a glossary for the use of antiquarians and students of American mores. New York: Aventine Press.: Available as a reproduction from Amazon.

Wondrich notes in Imbibe 2nd edition: “Crockett was the Waldorf’s press agent, and when Prohibition closed its bar, he received custody of its handwritten bar book.”
1932. Anonymous. Sloppy Joe's Bar Season 1932-33. Havana, Cuba:: Available for online reference from EUVS.
1932. Feery, William C. Wet Drinks for Dry People: A book of drinks based on the ordinary home supplies. Chicago: Bazner Press.: Available as a PDF from EUVS.
Existence of the book in 1932 is confirmed by its listing in the Library of Congress' Catalog of Copyright Entries.
1933. Duffy, Patrick Gavin. Official Mixer’s Manual.: Existence of the book at the very end of 1933 is confirmed by its listing in the Library of Congress' Catalog of Copyright Entries. Note that though the deposit copies were submitted in December 1933, the official copyright was affirmed on January 2nd, 1934, explaining slight variation in cited year for the first edition.

Wondrich, in Imbibe 2nd edition p.326, says that Duffy not only relied on Ensslin’s 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks, he “plundered it wholesale”.
1933. Josa, Antonio. Cocktelera Universal: Recetario artístico de cocktails. Valencia: Tipografia "El Turia".: Available as a PDF from EUVS.
c.1933. Anonymous. Good Cheer: A handbook of recipes of spirituous and non-spirituous drinks gathered from authoritative sources. Compiled in order to preserve some evidence of the genius and artistry of those good old days. (a.k.a., from its snakeskin cover, For Snake Bites—or Something).: No author or date. Published in the United States during Prohibition, thus between 1920 and 1933. I would hazard a guess that it is pre-1930.
Available as a PDF from EUVS.

Section 5: 1934–1951 (Years of Reform)

Section 6: 1952–1968 (Era of the Rat Pack)

Section 7: 1969–1989 (Dark Age of Cocktail Drinking)

Section 8: 1990–2004 (Revival of Cocktail Drinking)

Section 9: 2005–present (Era of Old School Innovation)

Thanks to the following for their helpful bibliographies, collections of resources, or other assistance: the Internet Archive (donate here to support their wonderful work!); librarians everywhere but especially Marvin Taylor and Kelly Turner; David Wondrich, whose work is a constant inspiration and whose source notes in the 2015 edition of his book Imbibe provide valuable context for many works, in addition to the other notes he has kindly permitted me to share here; Lowell Edmunds, whose page "Pre-1910 Bartender's Manuals and Other Books Containing Cocktail Recipes: A Bibliography" was indispensable; Anistatia Miller, Jared Brown, and Exposition Universelle des Vins et Spiritueux, whose comments as well as collection have proven most helpful; Andrew "the Alchemist" Willett, for his "Books on Drink: A History (with ratings)" page as well as his posts; Joerg Meyer, for his unfailing enthusiasm as well as his rare mixology book list; Rabelais fine books on food & drink, for their detailed catalog notes; Erik Ellestad for his uniquely thorough experimentation with the Savoy Cocktail Book and general knowledge of measurements and substitutions; Jeffrey Masson, for his Boothby knowledge; the Difford's Guide team, for their balanced judgment; Paul Clarke, for his good will and hard work on behalf of his fellow drink nerds; Marcovaldo Dionysos, for his ready wit and extensive book list; John C. Burton, for kindly sharing his extensive bibliography and knowing more about "Cocktail Bill" Boothby than anyone.

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Sadly some books once held by libraries have been stolen from us all. Library thieves suffer in an even lower circle of Hell than vile people who sneak out of bars without paying, those who snap their fingers to get the bartender's attention, and non-tippers. If you, in your youthful foolishness, committed such a sin, in order to be absolved you must put that book in a well-padded envelope and slip it into the book drop to return it to our common resources.

Bibulo.us - We plead the 21st.