The Flowing Bowl. When and What to Drink. Full Instructions How to Prepare, Mix and Serve Beverages

New York: Charles L. Webster & Co.; [Press of Jenkins & McCowan], 1892. Octavo (21.5 x 15 cm.), 294, [10] pages. Publisher's advertisements at rear. FIRST EDITION. Copyright 1891 but first published 1892. A classic cocktail recipe book, by the self-styled "Only William", a German immigrant who opened the Bridge Saloon at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1884. An endlessly creative bartender who created drinks on a whim with imaginative ingredients, he has been called the "Godfather of Modern Mixology". Clean and sound, in the variant binding of green cloth, gilt titled at spine and with a blind-stamped, stylized cocktail glass to the front and rear panels. There were at least three variant bindings; this appears to be the second most decorated. Slightest rubbing to edges, otherwise fine. Scarce thus. [Noling, Beverage Literature page 363].