Old Books On Wine - reccomendations?

I’ve been really enjoying old books on wine & spirits (pre 60s, if I had to draw a line).

Loved the esoteric digressions of George Saintsbury’s “Notes on a Cellar Book”, and I’ve been really enjoying the very imperial tone of Alec Waugh’s well-crafted prose on Ports, burgundies, and sambuca.

Anyone got any suggestions for books in a similar vein? I’m looking for interesting, if dated, strong opinions on booze. I find myself fascinated by the historical context here, and how tastes have evolved.

Look for titles from Gerald Asher, Frank Prial, or Leon Adams. I love M.F.K. Fisher’s works, although they are not strictly wine focused. Books are pretty easily found via Alibris or other sites.

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Prial is good.

I’d just go prowling on eBay and look for old books (most will have the date of publishing) and buy up a bunch. Most will be so cheap that even if you don’t care for it after reading a chapter, you won’t feel bad putting it back up in the bookshelf, or donate box.

If you snoop/search some of my prior posts, you’ll see that I leave book reviews here on a regular basis.

I would add Alexis Bespaloff Alexis Lichine, Frank Schoonmaker

Check out the books online on Raptis Rare Books. It’s a rare book store here in West Palm Beach with literally $30-50 million in inventory at a time. The place is unreal. They have wine and spirits books from the 1800s!

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Bespaloff - Fireside Book of Wine
P. Morton Shand - A Book of French Wines
Andre Simon - Vintagewise
Maurice Healy - Stay Me with Flagons
H. Warner Allen - Wines of France, The Romance of Wine

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This is a good read.

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Two old books I treasured when I first got in the business -

BORDEAUX by DAVID PEPPERCORN
https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/bordeaux_david-peppercorn/1396643/item/4821778/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwqKuKBhCxARIsACf4XuE2qYnNknkjUmsVi7jsjQ6Xsb76SIvXEyJl7lcSh7C9GskhAUyGcvIaAkEKEALw_wcB#idiq=4821778&edition=2231901

BURGUNDY by Anthony Hanson

Stalin’s Wine Cellar by John Baker
Wine and War: The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France’s Greatest Treasure by Donald Kladstrup & Petie Kladstrup
What To Drink With What You Eat by Andrew Dornenburg & Karen Page.

Also Hubrecht Duijker’s Great Wines of Bordeaux & Burgundy books

607EE086-B9E8-4BE6-9D69-521EAEEB39DC.jpeg
1973.

I thought the OP wanted pre1960?

These are wild! Was browsing through their catalogue last night and really thinking like dropping $8K on an old book on cigars would be a good idea.

These are all exactly the type of books I’m after, and will be fun to track down…thanks! This’ll be some good homework.

This is righfully a classic, but a little modern for what I’m after.

Thanks for all the tips everyone!
One other Alec Waugh I found, and just ordered, is his 1972 “Wines and Spirits (Foods of the World)” (granted, past my arbetrairy cut-off, but his style is still very much thematically what I’m after). Supposedly has a rare picture of madeira being poured over a naked boy, a supposedly traditional method I haven’t been able to find any info on. Though, it’s led to some questionable google searches.