The English professor Charles Cocks (1812-1854) settled in Bordeaux in 1840 and worked as a translator for English publishers. He wrote a handbook on the Bordeaux châteaux of the time especially for his English compatriots. In 1846, the book, conceived as a tourist guide, was published in English under the title "Bordeaux, its Wines and the Claret Country". It contained historical and tourist observations on Bordeaux and, as a novelty, offered an overview of the most important wine-growing locations and producers, including the best vintages. This work is considered to be the forerunner and one of the most important foundations for the classification of Bordeaux in 1855.
This work came to the attention of the French publisher Michel-Édouard Féret and the two collaborated on a French version, which was published in 1850 under the title "Bordeaux et ses vins" (Bordeaux and its wines). It later became famous under the names "Cocks & Féret", "Bordeaux Bible" or, most recently, simply as "Le Féret" and is still being reprinted today. See Michel-Édouard Féret and important wine authors under Literature.
Portrait: Féret
Book cover 1846: Féret
Book cover 2007: by Amazon, Fair use, Link
Book cover 2014: Féret
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Restaurantleiter, Sommelier, Weindozent und Autor; Dresden