Abbeville Press

08/11/2026

This new book reveals a distilling tradition older than mezcal, more varied than wh***ey: dryads, spirits distilled from tree sap.

Dryads: Spirits of the Trees by Brian Hoefling is the first-ever global survey of tree spirits, which range Sri Lankan arrack, to Nigerian ogorogo, to Quebecois acerum. Hoefling provides detailed tasting notes and over 70 outstanding cocktail recipes, each with a photo by Katie Stryjewski. Dryads is already receiving wonderful praise from fellow mixologists and cocktail historians!

“Dryads reads like the tale of a musician hearing new sounds or a painter uncovering unseen pigments.”—Jim Meehan, author of The Bartender’s Pantry

DRYADS is now available in stores and online. Visit the companion website DrinkDryads.com to find dryads near you!

07/29/2026

♟️Your move! And yours, and also yours…

In honor of Marcel Ducamp’s birthday, 50 opponents from the art world competed against chess grandmaster Susan Polgar yesterday. Held at MoMA as part of programming for their ongoing Duchamp retrospective, this simul—that is, simultaneous chess match—was initiated by Abbeville author Francis Naumann to mirror one held at the museum in 1974, during the run of its first retrospective on the artist. You can find Naumann’s new book Impossible, which tells of the love affair between Duchamp and the sculptor Maria Martins, at the museum shop!

- Setup of the Duchamp birthday simul hosted by MoMA The Museum of Modern Art

- “Impossible” author Francis Naumann with Duchamp’s chess set

- Marcel Dzama in a helmet (of his own creation?), with Susan Polgar rounding the boards at left

06/18/2026

Dad's got a green thumb? Gardeners and foragers will love THE ALBUM OF PLANT FAMILIES!

Thanks to SAVEUR Magazine for including in their Father's Day gift guide!

Here are our editors’ picks for what to gift the home cooks, grill enthusiasts, and frequent fliers in your life this Father’s Day.

06/17/2026

🌴🌳DRYADS: Spirits of the Trees - Exclusive preorder offer! 🌳🌴

To celebrate the release of DRYADS we’re offering a special preorder package! This exclusive offer is only available through and includes:
🌿 A signed, personalized copy of Dryads: Spirits of the Trees by Brian D. Hoefling
🌿 Three (3!) recipe cards featuring dryad cocktails not included in the book
    *Personally selected by the author, these tasty drinks each use a different dryad spirit
🌿 A hand-cut coaster made from the wood of a dryad-producing tree
🌿 A VIP invitation to the closest Dryads launch event to you!

TO ORDER: Head to drinkdryads.com!

Dryads: Spirits of the Trees is the first-ever book on an emerging category of spirits poised to shake up the cocktail world, exploring ancient but underrecognized traditions.

Spirits are typically grouped by their source materials: wh***eys are distilled from grains, rum from sugarcane, brandies from fruits, and so forth. Now another category of spirits is emerging in the global marketplace: those distilled from tree saps, which this book christens dryads. Dryads range from arrack, distilled from coconut palm sap in Sri Lanka; to ogorogo, distilled from raffia palm sap in Nigeria; to acerum, distilled from maple sap in Quebec. Each dryad has its own distinctive flavor profile and tradition; together, they are expanding the horizons of cocktail culture.

In this abundantly illustrated volume, Brian D. Hoefling—the critically acclaimed author of The Cocktail Seminars—explores the history, culture, and production of each of the major types of dryad. Through his extensive on-the-ground research, Hoefling also shows us how to enjoy these spirits, assembling some sixty outstanding cocktail recipes, each accompanied by a photo. DRYADS is both a one-of-a-kind resource and a fascinating read for any cocktail enthusiast!

04/23/2026

Join author at P&T Knitwear for an East Village walking tour!

Daniel Root’s new book, THE EAST VILLAGE THEN AND NOW, captures the street scenes of downtown Manhattan from the same vantage point in the 1980s and today. Visit the some of the same locations featured in his book and snap your own photos!

The tour gathers at 1:30pm this Sunday, April 26, departs at 2pm, and returns at around 2:45pm. Signed copies will be available at after the tour, and you’ll have a chance to share your best shots with the group!

Images:
1. and 2. St. Mark’s Place toward Cooper Union (Madonna filming ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’)

3. and 4. Ray’s Candy Store on Avenue A, since 1974.

5. and 6. “Think of this as a window” on East 8th Street

7. and 8. Carmen Pabon Garden, named for the Puerto Rican community activist, gardener, and poet that founded it.

02/06/2026

⛸️ Are you rooting for Team USA this weekend? Meet the skaters of Milan-Cortina 2026 in LEGENDS OF WOMEN’S FIGURE SKATING. From today’s stars like Alysa Liu, who came out of retirement to take gold at the World Championships, and Amber Glenn, a first-time Olympian at 26, to all-time legends like Michelle Kwan and Dorothy Hamill, discover these Olympians’ inspiring backstories and medal-winning jumps while the team takes the ice.

LEGENDS OF WOMEN’S FIGURE SKATING is a must-read for young fans and aspiring figure skaters! Available online and in stores now, wherever fine books are sold.

02/05/2026

Join Steve Thomas at The Explorers Club tonight for the incredible story of THE LAST NAVIGATOR!

Steve Thomas is familiar to television viewers as the two-time Emmy award-winning host of This Old House, Renovation Nation, and Save Our History. But he is also an experienced home builder and sailor. In the early 1980’s, he journeyed to the remote Micronesian island of Satawal to learn the ancient technique of star path navigation, an experience that resulted in this book as well as a documentary for the PBS series Adventure.

This richly illustrated lecture will take us into a world of ocean navigation largely unknown to the West, a world in which the traditional navigator’s only directional tools are the stars, the ocean swells and the flight paths of birds. Thomas spent eleven months on Satawal Island and in the Western Carolines as an apprentice to Mau Piailug, then one of the last paliuw, captains fully initiated in the Talk of Navigation, the closely guarded, ancient practices around reading the cosmos and the seas. Now some forty years on he has updated the stories with a new generation of Satawalese islanders and researchers in the revised and fully illustrated edition of The Last Navigator.

In person at and live streaming!
(B**r & w**e reception 6-7pm, lecture to follow)

01/28/2026

Join Steve Thomas at The Explorers Club on February 5th for the incredible story of THE LAST NAVIGATOR!

Steve Thomas is familiar to television viewers as the two-time Emmy award-winning host of This Old House, Renovation Nation, and Save Our History. But he is also an experienced home builder and sailor. In the early 1980’s, he journeyed to the remote Micronesian island of Satawal to learn the ancient technique of star path navigation, an experience that resulted in this book as well as a documentary for the PBS series Adventure.

This richly illustrated lecture will take us into a world of ocean navigation largely unknown to the West, a world in which the traditional navigator’s only directional tools are the stars, the ocean swells and the flight paths of birds. Thomas spent eleven months on Satawal Island and in the Western Carolines as an apprentice to Mau Piailug, then one of the last paliuw, captains fully initiated in the Talk of Navigation, the closely guarded, ancient practices around reading the cosmos and the seas. Now some forty years on he has updated the stories with a new generation of Satawalese islanders and researchers in the revised and fully illustrated edition of The Last Navigator.

https://www.explorers.org/calendar-of-events/the-last-navigator/

Tickets available! | In-person event
(Check-in will begin at 6:00 pm, with a b**r and w**e reception from 6:00 – 7:00 pm)

The Last Navigator, A Young Man, an Ancient Mariner, the Secrets of the Sea   Join The Explorers Club to...

11/14/2025

Join author Matthew White at Johnnycake Books tomorrow! He’ll be signing “New York Minute” from 4-6:00pm.

This delightful guide to public clocks around NYC makes for a fun hostess or holiday gift!

11/11/2025

Author Matthew White was on with Rocco Vertuccio sharing his new book NEW YORK MINUTE! This charming guide to the public clocks around the city highlights the “visual gift” of encountering beautiful designs on buildings, overhanging entrances, and even embedded in sidewalks. And Rocco said, the time is now! “New York Minute” is a perfect holiday gift, especially for architecture and history lovers.

Available on Abbeville.com and wherever fine books are sold, including Matthew’s own !