April 5, 2009


n/a [Serge Jacques, phot.]:
FOLIES DE PARIS ET DE HOLLYWOOD. No. 280
Société S.N.E.A.R., Paris, [ca. 1964].

The succulent cheesecake photography of Serge Jacques, served up in sizable helpings. With accompanying text in French, bien sûr.

<-- front cover

Sparke, William, and Clark McKowen:
MONTAGE: INVESTIGATIONS IN LANGUAGE
Macmillan Co., [New York], 1970.

A high-concept textbook, so visually dynamic that it's not even clear what discipline it aims to teach: narrative theory? graphic communications? concrete poetry?

<-- front pastedown & title page


Watney, Marylian:
THE ELEGANT CARRIAGE
J.A. Allen & Co., London, 1973.

Descriptions and images of the Tilbury Gig, the Equirotal Phaeton, the Post Chaise, and dozens of other swanky conveyances from the horse-drawn past.

<-- front cover


Sumach, Alexander:
THE ORIGINAL AND AUTHENTIC GROW YER OWN STONE
Reprint edition. Firefly Books, [Toronto, ca. 1980].

Lost in his work, the author chose to forgo mechanical typesetting in favor of a meticulously hand-lettered text; the misspellings add an air of intimate authenticity.

<-- front cover


Kesler, Ken:
DARTS, A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF THE GAME
Self-published, Calgary, [ca. 1990].

Apparently those guys at the back of the pub spend lots of time pondering aerodynamics, anti-bounce technologies, and advanced alloys.

<-- front cover


[SCHOOL COMPOSITION BOOK, BLANK]
No publisher, [Toronto?], [ca. 1930s].

Instead of a notebook decorated with ponies or matinee idols, young Marybelle selected one with an ambiguous ethnographic portrait on its cover. Then she signed the upper right-hand corner in pencil.

<-- front cover