"A DELICIOUS COCKTAIL, EXCELLENT IN QUALITY, BUT DANGEROUS IN QUANTITY": FIRST EDITION OF TIPPLE AND SNACK, 1931

(WRIGHT, William Mason, Jr.) MASON, Dexter. Tipple and Snack. Good Things to Eat and Better Things to Drink. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, (1931). Small octavo (4-1/2 by 7 inches), original green cloth. $300.

First edition of the classic 1931 guide, featuring winning recipes for the best pairings of food and drink.

Tipple and Snack, published under William Mason Wright's pseudonym of Dexter Mason, captures the charm of American colonel's time overseas in WWI, where he learned that delicious food and cocktails are best served together. Included in sections on the Bachelor Kitchen, Coolers, Heaters and Hunt Breakfasts are tasty recipes for a "Manila Hotel" served with "Deep Sea Delights" and breakfast classics such as "Beefsteak Pie Royal," along with recipes for an "Oyster Roast" and a "Shrimp Wiggle," as well as cocktails such as a "New Orleans Cream Fizz" and a "Junior Aide-de-Camp." Wright went on to serve in WWII and was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in the China-Burma-India Theater on the staff of General Joseph Stilwell. Wright also authored the popular Art of Drinking (1930), similarly issued under his pseudonym of Dexter Mason. Gift inscription.

Text fresh with only light spotting mainly at drink recipes, mild edge-wear, soiling to cloth. An extremely good copy.