American Bar: The Artistry of Mixing Drinks

This First English Language Edition copy of American Bar - The Artistry of Mixing Drinks, by Charles Schumann and Illustrated by Günter Mattei was published in 1995 by Abbeville Press Publishers of New York and London and printed in Hong Kong. The book had previously been published in Germany in 1991 and was translated from the German to English by Laura Lindgren. The book, which measures approximately 5 ¼ inches wide by 7 inches tall by 1 1/8 inches thick, contains 408 pages dedicated to providing all the information the cocktail lover or professional bartender needs to serve up the perfect drink.

The contents of the book includes recipes for more than 500 drinks, listed alphabetically, an easy-to-use drink index arranged by drink categories, the fascinating history and names of leading brands of all the major cocktail components, a handy guide to bar-tending equipment, and a glossary of international bar terms and measurements. There are also hundreds of delightful illustrations by Günter Mattei to assist the reader.

The book is hard bound in red leather covered boards with black lettering on the front and spine and an attached paper from the book's publisher on the back. That paper has a small tear on its right side. The book's pages are gilt edged, clean and easily read, with a black cloth string "page selector" for noting one's "place" in the book. The overall condition of the book is like new.

The illustrations accompanying this description show the book's covers, a typical 2-page spread from the table of contents, a typical 2-page spread of cocktail recipes, a typical 2-page spread of liquor descriptions, and a typical 2-page spread on the artistry of mixing drinks and cocktails.

Charles Schumann had been a bartender for more than twenty years, the last ten as proprietor of Schumann's in Munich. He is also the author of Schumann's Bar Book and Schumann's Tropical Bar Book.