Absinthe Cocktails from Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide, Revised, 1947, 1972

Absinthe Cocktails from Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide, Revised, 1947, 1972: Difficult-to-find absinthe recipes from Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide, Revised, 1947, 1972.

Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide, Revised, 1947, 1972:  Bartender’s Guide was first published in 1947 by Doubleday and Company. By Trader Vic or Victor Bergeron. This copy is from the revised edition, published by Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York. First revised edition. Hard back without dust jacket.   1500 cocktail recipes.  434 pages.   Illustrated by Ray Sullivan.   Sage advice from Trader Vic. Vic says in the preface that the book is aimed at the professional bartender, although the home bartender will find it extremely useful. This copy is in excellent vintage condition, in fact the book is in perfect condition.  The cover is completely pristine.  Hinges are perfect.  Pages are clear.  Binding is firm.  In fact, the firm binding is why these images are so weird.   I couldn’t get the book open enough to get good images, and I certainly didn’t want to start breaking in the binding.  I’ll leave that for you!

This book is illustrated  by Helen Ann deWerd, who did the funny cartoons at 0pening of each chapter.  Trader Vic’s prose is extremely entertaining and his advice is quite matter-of-fact.  Early chapters are titled, “People that bartenders don’t like” and “Bartenders that customers don’t like.”