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INTRODUCTION
to take a little of this and a little of that,shake them up and
pour them down. I have been unable to find any record of
how and when Professor Thomas passed to his reward, but
I should not be surprised to learn that he expired of shock
and horror when the final edition of his valuable contribution
to American folk lore was placed in his hands. It is impos
sible to believe that he acquiesced in the editorial mutila
tions. The aim of the present editor has been to preserve the
first edition intact, and to combine with it the best features
of subsequent printings, for many important discoveries
were made, and much valuable knowledge acquired, by the
Professor before he was finally cut down by the Grim
Reaper.This volume,therefore,is an attempt to preserve for
posterity a specimen of Americana which in all likelihood
will never be duplicated,for it is quite improbable that there
will ever again be a legitimate bartender practicing under
the protection of the Stars and Stripes.The work should thus
be of considerable value to the scholar who wishes to study
the manners and customs of the American people in the days
before drinking became extinct, and the bartender a pariah.
In this edition the contribution of Professor Schultz is
omitted as unnecessary, since adequate directions for the
manufacture of beers, wines, whiskeys, and cordials may be
found in any of the standard encyclopedias.
II
When Professor Thomas prepared to write The Bon
Vivant's Companion and spray his nectarian delights upon
a parched and thirsty world, he was very full of his subject
—I speak figuratively — and his enthusiasm took the form
of appending brief but appropriate comment to certain of his
most beloved recipes. Thus, when he had set down the sum
total of human knowledge concerning the preparation of that
blood brother to the cocktail, the brandy crusta, one snifter
XXV