Mary Virginia Terhune

1830–1922

Co-author, with her daughter, of the first comprehensive mixology book by a woman

Mary Virginia Hawes began writing at age 14, employing various pseudonyms to try to get published. She found her first major success winning a contest with her serial novel “Kate Harper” under the pseudonym Mario Harland. With family support, Virginia became a successful writer of fiction targeting women readers. After marrying, Mary Virginia Terhune turned to writing domestic guides, culminating in the five volume, shelf-sagging Consolidated Library of Modern Cooking and Household Recipes, co-authored with her daughter, Christine Terhune Herrick. The fifth volume (1904) was dedicated to alcoholic beverages and mixed drinks for entertaining, with instructions for compounding spirits and mixology, primers on wines and spirits, and toasting, as well as sections on meat carving and chafing-dish recipes. It is probably the first “cocktail book” by a woman, or in this case, two.