The Wine & Spirit Merchant
London: W R Loftus, [ca.1885]. [Loftus, W R]. The Wine & Spirit Merchant: a familiar treatise for practical men on the management of wines & spirits. (New & Rev ed) W R Loftus: London, [ca.1885]. 12mo (180x110mm) blind & gilt stamped black cloth xi,[1],357,[23]pp. VG-/- spine head torn.
Second-hand hardcover
[LOFTUS, William Robert (ca.1814 - 1887)]
The Wine and Spirit Merchant. A familiar treatise for practical men, on the management of wines and spirits in all their varieties, with an appendix, showing the simplest way of gauging and fixing casks and other vessels without the aid of special instruments. New and Revised Edition.
London : W.R. Loftus, 321 Oxford Street, circa 1885¹. Price 5/-
Duodecimo (180x110mm) original publisher's blind-stamped black cloth, gilt stamped title to upper board, yellow endpapers, xi, [1], 357, [23]pp : [A]⁶, B - I¹², balance unsigned. Upper joint 4cm spilt, lower front hinge damaged, text block firm, slightly cracked at B; edges lightly worn, spine faintly sunned; slight foxing in a few spots mostly to gutter and margins; pp.347-348 two closed tears; a few pencilled notations. Unusually no advertisements.
¶ Loftus was a London based manufacturer of bottling and corking machines, tools, bottle wax, hydrometers, saccharometers, thermometers, gauging instruments and other utensils for the wine, spirit and brewing trades. The Wine & Spirit Merchant has three parts: The Wine Merchant (p.1-199), The Spirit Merchant (p.200-320) and Plain Directions for Gauging and Fixing Vessels (p.321-357). Each part had been previously published by the author in various forms from the mid-1860s, presumably to promote his own services and products to the wine and spirits trade.
The Wine Merchant provides an overview of wine production around the world with notes on Claret, Burgundy, Sherry, Port, Champagne, and other sparkling wines as well as general instructions on bottling and cask management. There are two pages discussing Australian wine, mentioning C'warra, Dalwood and Auldana as well as notable vineyards at Albury. The Spirit Merchant discusses the technical aspects of spirit production, particularly whisky and brandy. The chapter on foreign spirits discusses genever, rum and colonial spirits from the colonies. Other chapters discuss reduction processes (with tables), applicable customs regulations, and the valuation of spirits. The final part explains how to calculate volumes of barrels, ullages etc.
Scarce. An interesting insight into the practical issues faced by wine and spirit merchants in Victorian London.
§ OCLC records only seven holdings this edition, and five other holdings all other editions
§ Gabler 28890; Not in Noling
¹ W R Loftus Hydrometer maker and wine merchant at 321 Oxford St, Kelly's London Post Office Directory 1886, p.544. BL also suggests 1885.
Item #8298
ISBN: NoISBN
Price: $250.00 AUD