Gifts for Literate Wine (and Food) Lovers

Rabelais Books, a terrific bookstore in Portland, Maine, that specializes in books about food and wine (surprising how we love that around here, huh?) has released its first catalogue of rare and antiquarian food, wine and spirits books. It's great fun to glance through, even if you can't throw down $1,800 for a first edition of Agoston Haraszthy's 1862 classic Grape Culture, Wines and Wine-Making.

(As a side note, the catalogue also includes copies of the out-of-print and rare 'in bocca' series of Italian cookbooks, which I recall coming across during my own stint in the rare-book business, back in the early 90s, for about $35 rather than $450, alas. Here's a comment from Mario Batali on the in bocca series from an article in the NY Times, if you're interested).