The Book of Knowledge, and Guide to Rapid Wealth

This 1890 handbook by Street & Smith, issued as Handbook Library No. 6, comprises practical formulae and trade secrets arranged by category. The "Secrets of the Liquor Trade" section details recipes for manufacturing counterfeit alcoholic beverages—cider without apples, fake champagne, synthetic port wine, sherry, and brandy using neutral spirits, sugar, tartaric acid, and various colorants and flavorings. Instructions cover "cider champagne" bottled in champagne bottles with silvered labels deliberately sold as genuine champagne to "the ignorant." The Druggists' Department provides formulations for patent medicines and remedies. Remaining sections cover manufacturing processes (inks, paints, plating), toiletries, hunting secrets, farming techniques, confectionery, household management, and general recipes. The handbook presents itself as practical guidance for rapid wealth-acquisition through these industrial and commercial applications.