The Complete Distiller. Containing, I. The method of performing the various processes of distillation, with descriptions of the several instruments: the whole doctrine of fermentation: the manner of drawing spirits from malt, raisins, molosses, sugar, &c. and of rectifying them: with instructions for imitating, to the greatest perfection, both the colour and flavour of French brandies. II. The manner of distilling all kinds of simple waters from plants, flowers, &c. III. The method of making all the compound waters and rich cordials so largely imported from France and Italy; as likewise all those now made in Great Britain. To which are added, accurate descriptions of the several drugs, plants, flowers, fruits, &c. used by distillers, and instructions for chusing the best of each kind 8vo - 1757

London: P. Vaillant, and R. Griffiths, 1757. 8vo. (7 3/4 x 5 inches). [viii], 266, [14] pp. With a folding engraved plate of distilling apparatus. Full contemporary calf, skilfully rebacked

First edition of a cornerstone English manual of distillation, uniting shop-floor practice with accessible chemistry.

A working distiller by trade, Cooper states in his preface that he surveyed earlier literature and incorporated useful material from a contemporary French treatise, while supplying much from his own experience, aiming to make "the whole delivered in the plainest manner" for both professional distillers and private families. Cooper promises plain instruction and thus minimizes technical jargon, adapts quantities for small-scale use, and adds short notes on the virtues, uses, and careful selection of ingredients with the larger aim being the improvement of the art of distilling itself. Cooper insists that many practitioners repeat inherited routines without inquiring into the rationale of their processes. By proceeding on rational principles, he believes, distillers can raise the quality of British-made spirits and cordials to match those imported at great expense from abroad, which he treats as a matter of national as well as personal advantage. Cooper begins with apparatus and process before treating fermentation in detail and including discussion on the production of spirits from malt, raisins, molasses and sugar. Later sections cover the distillation of simple waters and an extensive repertory of compound waters and cordials: Usquebaugh, Geneva (gin), ratafia, cherry brandy, Hungary and Cephalic waters, eau de Carmes, and more, often with precise recipes and quantities for proof spirits and botanicals. Published in 1757 during the Seven Years' War, The Complete Distiller belongs to a moment when British distilling stood at the meeting point of commerce, regulation, and emerging chemistry. The earlier gin crises had drawn the trade under strict excise and public scrutiny, while the Atlantic economy supplied ample molasses and sugar from the Caribbean for rum and compound spirits in London and the provinces. Cooper's blend of apparatus, method, and recipe, his use of continental sources, and his emphasis on ingredient quality and process control mark the book as both a working guide and an expression of improvement in mid eighteenth century manufacture.

Crahan 39; Maclean p.35-36; Simon, Bibliotheca Gastronomica 388, ESTC T135611; Noling 115.