drink

The Curiosities of Ale & Beer

In the words of the author himself, this tome is responsible for "the bringing to light of many curious facts, so far as I am aware, never before noticed" about the role of ale and beer in the history of mankind. Starting in ancient Egypt, Bickerdyke traces the evolution of beer and brewing up through the late 1800s.

A Treatise on Brewing

Intended for both professional and home-brewers, in an era when most people did brew their own, this book was in such demand that it stayed in print for decades through the early 1800s and has become a classic in the history of brewing.  This copy is the 3rd edition, published in 1802.

How to Mix Drinks

Collecting and standardizing what had been until then a hodge-podge of oral traditions and regional customs, this was the first recipe book for mixed drinks published in the United States.  Jeremiah Thomas (1830-1885) was a bartender who owned various saloons in New York City and worked in others in California (during the Gold Rush), St.

The Grapes of New York

U. P. Hedrick was a horticulturist at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York in 1905 when he began writing the first of many monographs of fruit cultivars that could be grown in New York State.  The Grapes of New York is the first of his many works. The Smithsonian Libraries' Botany and Horticulture Library holds all of his works in print.  The works were classic references on the fruit cultivars of the period. These volumes are much sought after by pomologists and fruit enthusiasts for their detailed descriptions and beautiful artwork.

English Table Glass

Percy Bate was born in Manchester in 1868.  In addition to English Table Glass, he authored several books on portraiture and other forms of art.  He was Secretary of the Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts and later Director of Aberdeen Municipal Art Gallery and Museum.  In English Table Glass, he uses photographs and descriptions to highlight many examples from spirit glasses to candlesticks.  Bate covers table glass from the 16th through the 18th century, but some of his advice—such as how to identify fakes—applies to researchers and collectors tod

On Booze

A fitting collaboration for two fixtures of San Francisco’s Beat scene, On Booze is a collection of poems on individual spirits and cocktails accompanied by line drawings of faces.

Survival on Land and Sea

This pocket-sized, waterproof booklet was created by Smithsonian scientists for soldiers and airmen in the Pacific to carry with them during World War II.  It details survival information for stranded servicemen, including how to navigate without instruments, abandon ship, start fires, find water, build shelter, and identify edible and dangerous plants and animals in the tropics, the arctic, and the desert.  Over 1 million booklets were distributed by the end of the war and potentially saved numerous lives. 

To James Bond With Love

The lives of James and Mary Bond, a Philadelphia ornithologist and author, respectively, were altered the day that author Ian Fleming, a bird lover who was familiar with Bond’s book “The Birds of the West Indies,” appropriated James Bond’s name for his fictional spy character.  In this biography of her husband, Mary Wickham Bond describes in delightful stories her life with him, both ornithological and literary.  It includes such anecdotes as the time the ‘real’ James Bond met Ian Fleming (there’s a photo of this event in the book, which took place in Goldeneye, Jamaica) and managing episod

Famous Personalities of Flight Cookbook

Published for the National Air and Space Museum by the Smithsonian Institution Press, this is a collection of favorite recipes from well-known fliers, astronauts, aviation legends, and space and aviation industrialists.  Included are recipes and personal anecdotes from pioneers like the Wright Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, and Robert Goddard; favorite food and drink recipes from fliers James Doolittle, Jacqueline Cochran, and Ernest Gann.