(1827) - A truly fantastic book that manages to summarize hundreds of years of English drink-making in one book.

(1862, 1876, 1887) - The foundational guide, the earliest comprehensive American bartending manual.

(1891, 1908) - A great source on late-nineteenth century cocktail culture in San Francisco.

(1892) - This substantial book only focuses in part on recipes; Schmidt also instructs the reader on wine and food pairings and other epicurean matters.

(1895) - Kappeler’s bartending guide features Gilded Age drinks as well as classics from earlier in the 19th century.

(1882, 1888, 1900) - One of my absolute favorite bar books, with advice on running a bar, café, and hotel.

(1912) - A great hotel bar manual from the pre-Prohibition era, with advice on how to run a bar.

(1916, 1917) - An excellent snapshot of the New York cocktail landscape from the years just before Prohibition.

(1917) - The first extant cocktail manual to be written by a Black American bartender.

(1930) - An important collection of recipes from the American Bar at London’s Savoy Hotel; a look into British & expat cocktails in the ‘20s.

(1948) - An interesting book published just after WWII by an attorney who was also a cocktail enthusiast.

(1951) - This interesting book chronicles the author’s travels and the drinks he encountered along the way.