The Wine and Spirit Merchant: a Familiar Treatise for Practical Men on the Management of Wines and Spirits in All their Varieties. Published by W R Loftus. Includes reducing tables. Undated, but the inscription in the front to the original owner, Robert Fookes, Milton [Abbas] Brewery, is dated 1889. 7.25" x 4.5" approx. 357 pages, plus indexes, plus 24 pages of advertisements for brewery-related equipment. Weight 390g.
Condition: Victorian practical book, in good readable condition but not perfect. It is well over a century old, and has clearly been used a lot. The pages are firmly attached, and in good condition, with some turned-down corners, and some annotations (pencilled marks), mainly on the chapters dealing with the management of wines and the management of spirits. Some calculations have been written on the back endpaper. Endpapers are somewhat cracked at the "hinges", and have come away from the covers at the bottom corners. The covers are still sturdy, though they have lost their colour and are no longer smart. There are some marks, including splash marks, on the covers, causing "bobbling", and one of these has caused staining on the top of the front endpapers, as shown. Minor damage at the edges of the covers. Previous owner's name at the front, dated 1889.
