The Monkey's Paw

2012-01-22T07:06:00.000-05:00

Alexander, John L. (ed.):

BOY TRAINING

Association Press, New York, 1912.

"Thousands of conscientious fathers and mothers realize the seriousness of their boy problem and are doing their utmost to save their boys, against great odds."

<-- front cover

2012-01-22T07:05:00.000-05:00

Schmidt-Brümmer, Horst:

VENICE, CALIFORNIA: AN URBAN FANTASY

Grossman Publishers, New York, 1973.

"Today I'm in the mood for a photo-based cultural commentary on California's seediest beach community, undertaken by a German academic in the early '70s. Any recommendations?"

<-- front cover

2012-01-22T07:04:00.000-05:00

Woodforde, John:

THE STRANGE STORY OF FALSE HAIR

Drake Publishers Inc., New York, 1972.

Newest fashion among old booksellers: a "Cloudsley Shovel" full-bottom periwig with eight clusters of low-hanging curls, liberally powdered.

<-- front cover

2012-01-22T07:03:00.000-05:00

[Cadogan, Adelaide]:

LADY CADOGAN'S ILLUSTRATED GAMES OF SOLITAIRE OR PATIENCE

David McKay Company, Philadelphia, 1914.

Looking forward to some long, cold, and very lonely winter nights.

<-- front cover

2012-01-22T07:02:00.000-05:00

Bishop, George:

THE WORLD OF CLOWNS

Brooke House Publishers, Los Angeles, 1976.

Get your Gacy on!

<-- front cover

2012-01-22T07:01:00.000-05:00

Nichols, Herbert L.:

MOVING THE EARTH: THE WORKBOOK OF EXCAVATION

North Castle Books, Greenwich, CT, 1976.

Pencil-necked intellectuals will need a front end loader just to hoist this monster into reading position.

<-- whole book, looming

2011-12-07T13:12:00.000-05:00

Monkey's Paw Christmas Catalogue 2011:
A Miscellany in Four Parts

Part 1: Cultural Detritus
Could a bookseller actually build a reputation on salvaged material like this?

Peacock, F.W.:
CONVERSATIONAL ESKIMO
Breakwater Books Ltd., Portugal Cove, NL, 1977.
Countless useful phrases for yesterday's visitors to the Arctic, including the sadly resigned observation "ImaKa ablatsângortitaujungnangilaK Inuktôrtanut" ("I suppose that it cannot be translated into Eskimo").

Christopher, John and Rosemary:
DESIGN FOR MODERN MARRIAGE
Hurst & Blackett, London, 1958.
For sensible and industrious people, domestic bliss can indeed be achieved: apparently it requires a combination of careful planning, thrifty consumer decisions, and tireless household maintenance. Lots of photos.


n/a: SMITH-CORONA TEN-DAY TOUCH TYPING COURSE [five 33-rpm records; spiral-bound booklet on cardboard stand; and six legal-sized sheets of blank typing paper] Smith-Corona Marchant, New York, 1961. Before you begin your lesson, you'll have to figure out how to position the booklet on its A-frame stand, and stack the LPs in the correct order on your phonograph's record-changer.

Zsilinszky, Victor G.:
PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERPRETATION OF TREE SPECIES IN ONTARIO
Ontario Department of Lands and Forests, Toronto, 1963.
Looking down on the northern landscape from a bush plane, the untrained eye sees a vista of undifferentiated greenery; but with the help of black-and-white stereoscopic photography, it's possible to spot the stand of black spruce in the forest of balsam fir. Inscribed by author on title page.

Part 2: Confirmed Cool
Left casually in the bathroom, these make a powerful impression on even the most sophisticated guests.

[Brand, Stewart (ed.)]:
WHOLE EARTH CATALOG: ACCESS TO TOOLS. SPRING, 1969
Portola Institute, Menlo Park, CA, 1969.
The counterculture catalogue that allows historians to reconstruct the intellectual climate of the back-to-the-land hippie movement. In addition to the many intriguing books and DIY kits offered for sale, this exceedingly scarce early issue includes a gratuitous photo of "Plaster Caster" rock-star genitals.

Langdon, Philip:
ORANGE ROOFS, GOLDEN ARCHES: THE ARCHITECTURE OF AMERICAN CHAIN RESTAURANTS
Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1986.
A fact-heavy resource for students of 20th-century efficiency food culture, and a cathartic tool for disaffected hipsters who spent their childhoods in corporate suburbia.

Schultes, Richard Evans; Elmer W. Smith (illus.):
HALLUCINOGENIC PLANTS [A GOLDEN GUIDE]
Golden Press, New York, 1976.
Alarmingly improbable: a field guide to psychedelic flora, written by an esteemed ethnobotanist, and aimed at juvenile readers. Like every title in the Golden Guide series, it's packed with charming colour illustrations.

Thygeson, Gordon:
APPLE T-SHIRTS: A YEARBOOK OF HISTORY AT APPLE COMPUTER
Pomo Publishing, Scotts Valley, CA, 1997.
Silicon Valley's golden age, revealed via the impossibly ugly commemorative t-shirts that were issued to various product teams at Apple. Indispensable for fashion pirates looking to knock off original geek office-culture styles.

Part 3: High-Class Antiquarian
Items of objective bibliophilic worth; no sense of irony required.

Davillier, Ch[arles]; J. Thomson (trans.); Gustav Doré (illus.):
SPAIN
Sampson Low, Marston, Low, and Searle, London, 1876.
Wild rocky landscapes, ruins, beggars, dancing girls, bullfights, gypsies: clearly Doré felt right at home with the gothic theatricality of the subject matter. Contains over 200 engravings (including 112 full-page plates).

[Estienne, Robert, and Johannes Frisius]:
LEXICON TRILINGUE, EX THESAURO ROBERTI STEPHANI, ET DICTIONARIO IOANNIS FRISII SUMA FIDE AC DILIGENTIA COLLECTUM [etc.]
Theodosius Rihelius, Argentorati [Strasbourg], 1587.
No doubt this massive trilingual dictionary was a significant scholarly achievement in its day, but equally astonishing is the 16th-century typography: some 800 two-column pages in Latin, Greek, and German black letter. At five kilos, it'll make an impressive stocking-stuffer for your favorite Renaissance humanist.

Shaw, G. (ed.):
THE OFFICIAL TOURISTS' PICTURESQUE GUIDE TO THE LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY… EMBRACING INFORMATION RESPECTING TOURS IN ENGLAND, IRELAND, AND SCOTLAND
Norton and Shaw, London, 1876.
It's easy to picture the glamour days of Victorian rail travel. Just imagine a North American heiress reclining on the blue upholstery of a first-class banquette somewhere between Bletchley and Blisworth: this pretty little book is on her lap.

n/a:
ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE OF SOLID GOLD & ROLLED PLATE SOCIETY EMBLEMS, CHARMS, PINS, LAPEL BUTTONS, ETC.
Geo. Brunswick, New York, 1902.
The secret handshakes of these fraternal orders may be forgotten, but it's still possible to learn exactly what the Independent Order of Odd Fellows wore on their lapels and the Knights of Pythias hung on their watch-fobs. Catalogue includes well over a thousand monochrome designs.

Part 4: Proprietor's Reserve
The artifacts we covet most passionately, and will always regret parting with.

Saucier, Ted; Russell Patterson, Al Dorne, et al. (illus.):
BOTTOMS UP
First edition. Greystone Press, New York, 1951.
When a raging fire threatens the penthouse, there is one mixology manual that a swanky bachelor will go back inside for. Includes colour pinup plates by twelve different artists, and provocative decorations throughout (e.g., girls wrapped around martini glasses). Signed by author on half-title.

Tissandier, Gaston; Henry Frith (trans.):
SCIENTIFIC AMUSEMENTS
[comprising HALF-HOURS OF SCIENTIFIC AMUSEMENT; MARVELS OF THE ELEMENTS; MARVELS OF HEAT, LIGHT, AND SOUND; and MARVELS OF EARTH, AIR, AND WATER]
Ward Lock & Co., London, [ca. 1890].
A single Victorian engraving depicting a home science experiment has the power to charm; but more than 300 together in one place will cause heartache. The poignancy of all those lost geeky boyhoods is almost more than a fellow can bear.

Völgyesi, Ferenc András; M.W. Hamilton (trans.):
HYPNOSIS OF MAN AND ANIMALS
Wilshire Book Co., Hollywood, CA, 1968.
You want so badly to believe that it is possible to mesmerize lobsters, pheasants, alligators, and mandrills; and then, to your infinite joy, a Hungarian researcher confirms your hopes…

Müller-Wulckow, Walter:
DEUTSCHE BAUKUNST DER GEGENWORT: WOHNBAUTEN UND SIEDLUNGEN
[German Contemporary Architecture: Residential Buildings and Developments]
Karl Robert Langewiesche, Königstein im Taunus, 1929.
21st-century romantic fatalists are compulsively drawn to the coolness of Weimar-era "New Objectivity" apartment blocks: they look so doomed, remote, futuristic. 110 full-page photos; German text.

[** end Christmas Catalogue 2011 **]

2011-10-27T12:12:00.000-04:00

(At the Monkey's Paw, we love the twilight season. We love dead leaves, dead poets, dead books; we love women in masks, men in dresses, children in black cat costumes; we love neglected graveyards and cheap candy. Yes: we love Halloween!)

*** MICROCATALOGUE #16: HALLOWEEN 2011 ***

Laughlin, Clarence John:
GHOSTS ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI
Bonanza Books, New York, 1961 (Revised Edition).

Decades before Louisiana produced superstar bloodsuckers like the Vampire Lestat or Bill Compton, its macabre reputation as the home of "plantation gothic" was firmly established by an eccentric photographer from New Orleans. In his visual study of the region's rotting and moss-draped antebellum mansions, Laughlin produced 100 images of grandeur and decay, and (subtlety be damned!) added splendid theatrical titles: "The Shadowed Pillars," "The Spectral Fans," "Enigmatic Urn," "Mementoes of Unreturning Time," etc. As an approach to architectural history, Laughlin's explicitly "poetic" style might be disdained by dry academics; but romantic souls attuned to the mildewed moods of the Deep South will find themselves transported. Happy Halloween, y'all!

Price, Vincent and Mary:
A TREASURY OF GREAT RECIPES
Ampersand Press, [n.p.], 1965.

So what if your séance fails to raise the spirit of Vincent Price? You can still dine on his version of "Cornish Hens with Sauce Diable." In this enormous vanity-published compendium, the horror actor and his second wife gathered hundreds of recipes from their favorite swanky restaurants around the world, and dressed them up with facsimile menus and a glib text by Vincent himself. The whole production reeks of jet-set exotica and Hollywood connoisseurship, particularly the autobiographical photos: breakfast in the dark-panelled library; high tea beside the swimming pool; curry served before a Mayan idol; wine on board a Clark Cortez mobile home; etc. The master lives!

Browne, Thomas; W.A. Greenhill (ed.):
SIR THOMAS BROWNE'S HYDRIOTAPHIA ["URN-BURIAL"] AND THE GARDEN OF CYRUS
Macmillan & Co., London, 1896.

Seemingly obscure, and decidedly difficult, this strange essay is actually a stealthy classic, savored for centuries by literary melancholics from Poe to Borges. Originally published in 1658 after the discovery of a Roman grave in Norfolk, "Urn Burial" is more than just a survey of ancient burial customs. Browne's meditation veers into the deepest shadows: he obsesses on the relentlessness of time, the inevitability of death, and the pitiful transience of all human accomplishment. Whether you actually grapple with the text, or just feel comforted by its mortal weight in your hand, this little book will make an elegant accessory to that goth librarian costume you're putting together. [Bound with "The Garden of Cyrus," Browne's truly cryptic essay on the mystical geometry of the number five.]

Habenstein, Robert W., and William W. Lamers:
THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN FUNERAL DIRECTING
First Edition. National Funeral Directors Assoc., Milwaukee, 1955.

True or false: In 1882, Albert Fearnaught of Indianapolis patented a "Grave-Signal" device to summon help in the event of accidental burial alive; at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, a manufacturer exhibited a purple hearse, but the style never caught on; Dr. Thomas Holmes, "the father of modern embalming," also developed a formula for tasty root beer; a proper Victorian lady in her first year of widowhood was expected to write on stationery with a 1/4" black border… (These and thousands more sepulchral facts can be found in this illuminating book, along with over 100 solemn illustrations.)

Sante, Luc:
EVIDENCE
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, New York, 1992.

It's standard practice at Halloween to treat the subject of death as spooky entertainment; but "Evidence" raises those stakes considerably. Here, the image of a blood-spattered corpse on the floor of a saloon qualifies as truly profound art. The 55 graphic crime-scene photos in the collection (murders, mostly) were shot by NYPD technicians in the nineteen-teens; Sante discovered the pictures in the archives, and recognized them as exquisite, if inadvertent, dramatic tableaux. The accompanying text -- Sante's search for answers both literal and aesthetic within the mute, dispassionate photos -- should be shown to every snide kid who thinks history is boring.

[** end Microcatalogue #16: Halloween 2011 **]

2011-09-25T09:06:00.000-04:00

[Aikin, Lucy; adapted from original by Daniel Defoe]:
ROBINSON CRUSOE IN WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE
American News Company, New York, 1869.

An interesting technical achievement, and further evidence that monosyllabilism is a legitimate literary genre. But why didn't they call it "Rob Crue and His Man Fri"?

<-- front cover

2011-09-25T09:05:00.000-04:00

Lundbäck, Maja, and Märta Rinde-Ramsbäck:
SMALL WEBS
ICA-Publishing Company, Västerås, Sweden, [ca. 1959].

The beauty of these Scandinavian weavings is calm, almost sedative; so it comes as no surprise that they were originally designed for use in occupational therapy. Text in English.

<-- pp. 60-61

2011-09-25T09:04:00.000-04:00

Simics, Mihály:
A REVIEW OF BEE VENOM COLLECTING AND MORE
Apitronic Services, Calgary, 1994.

Basically, you electrocute the bees until they're angry enough to sting a glass plate; then you scrape off the poison, and sell it to a homeopath.

<-- front cover

2011-09-25T09:03:00.000-04:00

[Dance Guild, Inc.]:
THE EASY WAY TO GOOD DANCING
Book Guild of America, New York, [ca. 1956].

The book alone might suffice; but if you're truly serious about learning, you can detach the perforated "dancing footprints" folded inside, and lay them out on the dancefloor as a guide.

<-- front cover, with dancing footprints

2011-09-25T09:02:00.000-04:00

Head, Gay:
HI THERE, HIGH SCHOOL!
Teen Age Books, Inc., New York, 1958.

Relentless gee-whiz idioms; campy illustrations; and a sophomoric double entendre in the author's name. Like high school itself, not suitable for subtle minds.

<-- front cover

2011-09-25T09:01:00.000-04:00

Jacobs, Morris B.:
WAR GASES: THEIR IDENTIFICATION AND DECONTAMINATION
Interscience Publishers, New York, 1972.

We laugh that we do not cry. For example, Table 13 (food spoilage caused by non-arsinical vesicants) indicates that mustard gas will absorb readily into sausage meat.

<-- front cover

2011-08-30T13:54:00.011-04:00

Special Update:
Microcatalogue #15
SCRAPS FROM MITTELEUROPA
A family vacation spent among the ruined castles and pebbly beaches of the Old World didn't offer as many opportunities for book-scouting as one might have hoped; but happily, a few precious moments at flea markets and "antiquariats" did yield a handful of treasures. Fresh from the suitcase:

Brettschneider, Rudolf:
DAS FEILE WEIB
["The Venal Female"]
Verlag für Kulturforschung, Wien, 1929.

An ostensibly serious study of the female role in the psycho-social economy of sex, with a prurient emphasis on prostitution. The German text may or may not constitute genuine scholarship, but the numerous illustrations -- hundreds of provocative paintings and drawings, and a few photos -- leave no doubt that its male author suffered (or enjoyed!) very complicated feelings of fear and desire toward the ladies. Fittingly, his work was published as the fifth volume of a stereotypically Viennese series entitled "Allmacht Weib: Erotische Typologie der Frau" ("Female Omnipotence: Erotic Typology of Women").

* * * * * *

von Eschstruth, Nataly; Adolph Schöttner (transcription):
ES SPUKT!
["Haunted!"]
Verlag von Wilhem Marnet, Neustadt, [ca. 1900].

As literature, this romance (by a popular Prussian author of 19th century "women's stories") is probably quite forgettable. But as a printed artifact, it's altogether novel, and as lovely as it is baffling: the entire work has been transcribed and printed in shorthand. There must have been a time when stenographers around Europe could have made sense of these cryptic squiggles, but today, their apparent meaninglessness is the source of their beauty. Is this even a language? (A bright 5-year-old will tell you it looks suspiciously like Elvish…)

* * * * * *

Hoss, Gerd; Elspeth Weiser (illus.):
EINMAL SO, EINMAL SO
["Even So, Even So"]
Humboldt-Verlag, Wien, 1946.

Apparently an heir to the "Struwwelpeter" genre of scary cautionary verses, this exceedingly uncommon little book matches cheerful illustrations with cruel German rhymes in which greedy, thoughtless, and impulsive children get their comeuppances. Its real charm, however, is a die-cut gimmick: the kids' faces are cut away to reveal a happy grin on the recto (while playing with matches, poking a beehive, tormenting a puppy, etc.), and a resulting terrified grimace on the verso (burned, stung, bitten, etc.). Hard to describe, but trust us -- it's memorably cute and weird.

* * * * * *

Ivković, Branko:
ILUSTRIRANI BONTON
["Etiquette Illustrated"]
Stvarnost, Zagreb, 1963.

For gallant communists in Tito's Yugoslavia, there was clearly more to life than toiling at the tractor factory and planting cabbages -- as this guide to modern manners demonstrates. In addition to basic sections on hygiene, clothing, and home decor, it offers advanced advice on how to make a good impression at restaurants, in elevators, on airplanes, etc… and the etiquette of tobacco-smoking merits an entire chapter. The text is Croatian, but the enthusiastic illustrations (by a beloved Zagreb caricaturist) wouldn't look out of place in Mad Magazine.

* * * * * *

Snyckers, A.:
DUDEN FRANÇAIS, DICTIONNAIRE ILLUSTRÉ DE LA LANGUE FRANÇAIS
["Illustrated Dictionary of the French Language"]
Bibliographisches Institut AG, Leipzig, 1938.

The objective world and its names, catalogued visually. Here are over 10,000 French nouns, depicted as numbered details on 348 full-page illustrations: urban scenes, natural phenomena, material culture, work practices, entertainments, etc. It's an epic accomplishment in scope and clarity, as well as a revealing window into the organization of concrete reality in 'tween-wars Europe. Definitions in French, with bilingual introduction and index (French/German).

[-- end of Microcatalogue #15, "Scraps from Mitteleuropa" -- ]

2011-06-28T10:23:00.023-04:00

"The Parallel Library" in retrospect:

An off-site exhibition of printed artifacts,
hosted by the Monkey's Paw.

"The Parallel Library" was installed in a gallery space at 1080 Queen St. West, Toronto, during the last two weeks of June, 2011.

For those who were unable to visit the exhibition, we offer the following highlights, photographed in situ:

Rombauer, Irma S.:
COOKBOOK FOR BOYS AND GIRLS
Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis, 1946.

Indelible snapshot of a book in use: This copy of a children's cookbook (by the celebrated author of "The Joy of Cooking") was apparently blackened by a kitchen grease fire while laid open to a recipe for broiled steaks.

Steuart, D.L.:
CARP: HOW TO CATCH THEM
Herbert Jenkins, London, 1955.

When the activity in question is the leisurely pursuit of a credulous fish, a modest book is both appropriate and sufficient. (Effective baits are stale bread and boiled potatoes.)

Hough, Walter:
FIRE AS AN AGENT IN HUMAN CULTURE
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1926.

Now THAT'S scholarship: apparently contains every known fact about our species' use of fire, worldwide and throughout history. Also includes many illustrations of stoves, lamps, fire-making apparatus, etc.

Heuvelmans, Bernard:
ON THE TRACK OF UNKNOWN ANIMALS
Second Edition. Rupert Hart-Davis, London, 1962.

The foundational text of cryptozoology: an elusive work, almost as hard-to-find as the yetis, sea serpents, and living fossils that fill its pages.

n/a:
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY: ITS ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT AS REFLECTED IN ITS OFFICIAL WEEKLY NEWSPAPER, "THE BLACK PANTHER BLACK COMMUNITY NEWS SERVICE"
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1970.

A seemingly well-informed academic told us that much of the violently subversive content attributed to the Panthers in this report was actually created by the FBI.

n/a:
A NEW POPULAR STAR ATLAS (EPOCH 1950)
Gall and Inglis, Edinburgh, [ca. 1950].

Lie on your back and hold this book open at arms' length. Is that what the night sky looked like before ubiquitous light pollution?

Royce, Hans; Thomas Abeking (design):
GERMANY AT A GLANCE
German-American Trade Promotion Co., Frankfurt, [ca. 1952].

This elaborate production includes an icon-based thumb-tab index to 15 different industries, and the most complicated sequence of transparency overlays we've ever laid eyes on.

Cook, Terry; Jim Williams (phot.):
VANS AND THE TRUCKIN’ LIFE
Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1977.

It’s like they squeezed the 1970s, and extracted a single oily drop of distilled lifestyle essence.

Haskell, P.T:
INSECT SOUNDS
Quadrangle Books, Chicago, 1961.

A romantic summer evening in a country meadow: audiospectrograms, oscillograms, diagrams of stridulatory ridges, etc.

Clay, Alice (ed.):
THE AGONY COLUMN OF “THE TIMES,” 1800-1870
Chatto & Windus, London, 1881.

200 years before text messages, lovers and conspirators used to communicate via newspaper personal ads. Here are over 1700 examples, in various languages and private codes: the raw material of human melodrama, stripped of all context.

n/a:
CHINESE WOMEN IN THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD
Foreign Languages Press, Peking, 1960.

The folksy Maoist cover design is disarming... but ultimately an ideological paradise based on cooperative industrial productivity might fail to impress certain decadent Western gals.

Bednar, Kamil:
PUPPETS AND FAIRY TALES
SNTL Publishers of Technical Literature, Prague, 1958.

From deep in the heart of Europe, unadulterated white people’s culture takes the form of puppet animations: hopelessly dorky, yet weirdly beautiful, and inexplicably moving.

Willy, A., et al.:
THE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SEX
Cadillac Publishing Co., New York, 1949.

The numerous illustrations emphasize the eerie, sci-fi aspect of sexual biology -- probably not the best choice for calming the nerves of bashful or inexperienced readers.

Laury, Jean Ray, and Joyce Aiken:
THE PANTYHOSE CRAFT BOOK
Taplinger Publishing Co., New York, 1978.

Handicrafts formed from discarded hosiery are soft, colourful, and uniquely macabre -- particularly the boneless, full-sized-human doll called “Sister” by its creator. (“Sister is a good listener and a steady companion.”)

Hodges, Charles Du Bois:
IN SEARCH OF YOUNG BEAUTY
A.S. Barnes & Co., New York, 1968.

The most unsettling thing about this guide to photographing underage models is that the blandly cheerful author seems to have no awareness of how predatory his whole project looks. Creeeepy!

Baker, Geoffrey, and Bruno Funaro:
MOTELS [REINHOLD PROGRESSIVE ARCHITECTURE LIBRARY]
Reinhold Publishing, New York, 1955.

Arguably the single most representative printed document of the American 20th century. Includes marketing and design strategies, blueprints, and hundreds of agonizingly nostalgia-inducing photos.

Runham, N.W., and P.J. Hunter:
TERRESTRIAL SLUGS
Hutchinson University Library, London, 1970.

Who knew that a person could spend 25 years digging through old bookshops, and find only one really substantive book on slugs?

Grant, Jack:
SKATEBOARDING
Celestial Arts, Millbrae, CA, 1976.

To California skate-culture, this is like the caves at Lascaux; it predates “Thrasher” magazine by five years, and includes early photos of skateboard tricks that later came to be known as slides, ollies, etc.

n/a:
...INTERNATIONAL STATISTICAL CLASSIFICATION OF DISEASES, INJURIES, AND CAUSES OF DEATH
World Health Organization, Geneva, 1948.

The list is comprehensive, and your fate is printed here somewhere; just point a finger at a random page. Intracranial haemorrhage? Accidental poisoning by industrial solvents? Therapeutic misadventure?

Johnston, LaVaughn C.:
OPEN MOUTH DOLLS
[Self-published], Downey, CA, 1974.

You think you’re hardened; you think you’ve seen it all. Then, beneath a pile of craft magazines, you discover this.

Deneke, Walther:
GÖTZ VON BERLICHINGEN: WIE SAG’ ICH’S NUR?
Karl Josef Sander Verlag, Magdeburg, 1941.

The elegant German expression “Leck mich am Arsch” (literally,“Lick my ass”) was originally attributed to a one-armed 16th-century knight named Götz von Berlichingen.This Nazi-era pamphlet offers translation of the phrase into 44 languages.

[Coulson, Debora?]:
[FIGURE SKATING SCRAPBOOK]
[Toronto? ca. 1930].

What makes this scrapbook so poignant? Is it the obsession with costumed girls on skates, or the fact that all the images are tipped-in with linen ring-reinforcers?

Fairbairn, W.E.; “Hary” (illus.):
GET TOUGH! HOW TO WIN IN HAND-TO-HAND FIGHTING
Appleton-Century Co., New York, 1942.

These combat techniques, designed for commandos in desperate situations, are nothing less than savage. But the illustrations, in their childlike simplicity, introduce an uncomfortable sense of ambiguity.

n/a:
GYMNASTICS AND TUMBLING
U.S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, MD, 1944.

With 862 numbered photos, this handbook wins the Quantity Prize for images of physically fit men in exercise costumes.

Timbs, John:
STORIES OF INVENTORS AND DISCOVERERS IN SCIENCE AND THE USEFUL ARTS
Harper & Brothers, New York, 1860.

With chapters on flying machines, automata, stereoscopy, and many other Victorian technologies, all of which pale beside an exceptionally uncommon two-page engraving of Charles Babbage’s “Difference Engine.”

n/a:
1958 DE SOTO... EVERYTHING ABOUT IT SAYS TOMORROW
Chrysler Canada, Windsor, [1957].
In advertising, size does matter. The car itself was over 18 feet long, and the creators of this resource-intensive brochure must be credited for equivalent bravado and breadth of vision.

Hering, Daniel Webster, et al.:
TIME AND ITS MYSTERIES. SERIES II
New York University Press, 1940.

Could this be the finest book-object ever designed? Its earnest grace perfectly matches the grandiose subject matter.

2011-03-13T11:56:00.000-04:00

Jackson, Holbrook:
THE ANATOMY OF BIBLIOMANIA.
Farrar, Strauss & Co., New York, 1950.

To savor, stroke, and covet this book… well it's like a dog chasing its own tail.

<-- front cover

2011-03-13T11:55:00.001-04:00

Brusse, Jan; Daniel Frasnay (phot.):
NIGHTS IN PARIS
André Deutsch, London, 1958.

With 112 photos of Parisian night-fauna (showgirls, jazz musicians, aristocrats, winos, etc.), captured in stark black and white; beside which regular diurnal life looks quite colorless.

<-- front cover

2011-03-13T11:54:00.000-04:00

Wood-Allen, Mary:
WHAT A YOUNG GIRL OUGHT TO KNOW
Vir Publishing Co., Philadelphia, 1905.

"…will save her from ignorance, enable her to avoid vice, and deliver her from solitary and social sins."

<-- frontis and title page

2011-03-13T11:53:00.000-04:00

Alth, Max and Charlotte:
MAKING PLASTIC PIPE FURNITURE
Everest House, New York, 1981.

Home-built from PVC plumbing pipe, a lounge chair offers meditative repose; a saucy love seat promises intimacy; and a bookcase really dresses up your paperbacks.

<-- front cover

2011-03-13T11:52:00.000-04:00

n/a:
WE LAND ON THE MOON COLORING BOOK
Solar Communications, Island Park, NY, 1969.

One especially pleasing panel, depicting the effects of zero gravity, shows an astronaut pursuing floating french fries and cheese cubes around the cabin of his ship.

<-- front cover

2011-03-13T11:51:00.002-04:00

Hellmuth, Nicholas M.:
PRE-COLUMBIAN BALLGAME: ARCHAEOLOGY AND ARCHITECTURE
Foundation for Latin American Anthropological Research, Guatemala City, 1975.

"Stone stelae at Cotzumalhuapa show victorious players triumphantly carrying the newly severed heads of their unfortunate opponents." Includes a very thorough bibliography.

<-- front cover

2011-01-30T06:06:00.000-05:00

Nicholson, Howard:
NICHOLSON ON FIGURE SKATING
John Lane / Bodley Head, London, 1933.

With several dozen curious illustrations, which at first glance look like austere portraits of micro-organisms undergoing cellular division (turns out they're diagrams of various figure-eight and triple-loop maneuvers).

<-- front cover

2011-01-30T06:05:00.001-05:00

Lee, Jimmy:
SOUL FOOD COOKBOOK
Award Books, New York, 1970.

Pink Mayonnaise, Pig's Brawn, Roasted Woodchuck, etc.

<-- front cover

2011-01-30T06:04:00.000-05:00

Walker, Stella (comp.):
ENAMOURED OF AN ASS: A DONKEY ANTHOLOGY
Angus & Robertson, London, 1977.

This miscellany of reminiscences, trivia, poetry, etc., on the subject of Equus asinus is so infectiously optimistic that it caused one 21st century city-slicker to seriously fantasize about putting a donkey-stall in his garage.

<-- front cover

2011-01-30T06:03:00.000-05:00

Reif, Rita; Duane Michals et al. (phot.):
LIVING WITH BOOKS: 118 DESIGNS FOR HOMES AND OFFICES
Quadrangle/New York Times Book Co., New York, 1968.

A nostalgic reminder of how much physical space was devoted to bound paper during the Age of Print, with over 100 photos of packed bookshelves in actual bedrooms, dens, hallways, etc.

<-- back cover

2011-01-30T06:02:00.000-05:00

[British Medical Association's Board of Science and Education]
THE MEDICAL EFFECTS OF NUCLEAR WAR
John Wiley & Sons, Chichester (UK), 1983.

If you want to hear a dire prognosis, ask a panel of doctors about the prospects of providing medical care for tens of millions of burned and irradiated victims in the aftermath of a large-scale nuclear attack.

<-- front cover

2011-01-30T06:01:00.001-05:00

Crocker, Denton W., and David W. Barr:
HANDBOOK OF THE CRAYFISHES OF ONTARIO
University of Toronto Press, 1968.

"In crayfishes, there are 18 true segments plus a presegmental portion at the anterior end and a postsegmental portion at the posterior end."

<-- front cover

2010-11-07T06:06:00.000-05:00

n/a:
MANUAL ON UNIFORM TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES FOR STREETS AND HIGHWAYS.
U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, 1971.

Official graphic standards for signage in the automotive landscape: a potent fetish object for Ballardite design junkies. With colour illustrations throughout.

<-- front cover

2010-11-07T06:05:00.000-05:00

Peterson, Wm. O. (ed.):
MASONIC QUIZ BOOK: "ASK ME ANOTHER, BROTHER"
Charles T. Powner Co., Chicago, 1960.

"What is a Broached Thurnel?" "Who is the Principal Sojourner?" "What is the length of your 'Cable Tow'?" "What is the source of the term 'Riding the goat?'" ...etc.

<-- front cover

2010-11-07T06:04:00.001-05:00

Douglas, Helen (comp.):
THE SILVER CROSS, A COLLECTION OF POEMS AND HYMNS FOR THE SICK AND SUFFERING
George Bell & Sons, London, 1908.

Uniquely depressing verse on Christian resignation in extremis: titles include "Pain," "Weariness," "Enough," "Wishes about Death," etc.

<-- front cover

2010-11-07T06:03:00.000-05:00

Austin, Alma H.:
THE ROMANCE OF CANDY
Harper & Brothers, New York, 1938.

From tropical raw materials to Main St. merchandising, a forgivably tolerant overview of the industry responsible for creating the world's easiest-to-like substances. With over 50 photos.

<-- photos 28 to 33 ("Making Peanut Crisp," etc.)

2010-11-07T06:02:00.001-05:00

Clark, George H., and James Fletcher:
FARM WEEDS OF CANADA
Dominion of Canada Dept. of Agriculture, Ottawa, 1923.

It's sweet, and somehow chivalrous, that a couple of agricultural bureaucrats would produce such a lovely book about plants they despise so adamantly. With 76 very pretty colour plates.

<-- page 120 & plate 44: Field Bindweed

2010-11-07T06:01:00.001-05:00

Fogarty, Ann:
WIFE-DRESSING
Julian Messner, Inc., New York, 1959.

Costume advice for married narcissists with big closets: for a 10-day Florida vacation, the author (herself a fashion designer) recommends packing 18 dresses and 20 pairs of shoes.

<-- front cover

2010-10-24T06:06:00.001-04:00

Dutton, June and Edith Vanocur:
THE BOOZE BOOK.
Determined Productions, San Francisco, 1967.

It was the Summer of Love for middle-class alcoholics, too. Here are recipes for mai tais, daiquiris, sangria, etc., illustrated with cheerful caricatures in supersaturated pop colors.

<-- front cover

2010-10-24T06:05:00.000-04:00

Johnson, Margaret Fullerton, and Dorothy E. Cook:
MANUAL OF CATALOGING AND CLASSIFICATION FOR SMALL SCHOOL AND PUBLIC LIBRARIES
H.W. Wilson Co., New York, 1950.

Highly concentrated bibliographic pathos: a guide to card catalogue management, discarded by a school library without a single checkout recorded on its "Date Due" card.

<-- front cover

2010-10-24T06:04:00.000-04:00

"Zeta" [Zachary Cope]:
THE DIAGNOSIS OF THE ACUTE ABDOMEN IN RHYME
H.K. Lewis & Co., London, 1949.

Rarely is the dissonance between form and function so jarring, even scandalous, as in this collection of perky doggerel describing life-threatening abdominal afflictions.

<-- front cover

2010-10-24T06:03:00.001-04:00

Herdeg, Walter:
SCHWEIZER SIGNETE / TRADE MARKS AND SYMBOLS
Graphis Press, Zurich, 1948.

A work of such haughty elegance that no one would dare call it vanity publishing -- even though a single highly-motivated Swiss designer was its publisher, editor, and primary contributor. Text in German and English.

<-- pp. 64-65

2010-10-24T06:02:00.000-04:00

Sullivan, Jim, and Lori Calicott:
BREAK DANCING: STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
Publications International, Skokie, IL, 1984.

Be sure to read the fine print: "The moves in this book have been explained and demonstrated by experienced dancers. Breaking moves should not be attempted without the assistance of an instructor."

<-- front cover

2010-10-24T06:01:00.001-04:00

Ketley, A.J.:
TEXTBOOK OF IRONMONGERY AND HARDWARE
National Institute of Hardware, Birmingham, [1949].

A guide so comprehensive that an enterprising archaeologist could reconstruct the entire metal-based material culture of the 20th century from the contents of this one book.

<-- front cover

2010-10-10T06:06:00.001-04:00

Dahinden, Justus; Gerald Onn (trans.):
URBAN STRUCTURES FOR THE FUTURE.
Praeger Publishers, New York, 1972.

The architectural utopia of tomorrowland, vividly imagined but in most cases never built: domed habitats; plug-in cities; modular polyester pods; pneumatic clusters; artificial floating islands; etc. Thoroughly illustrated.

<-- front cover

2010-10-10T06:05:00.000-04:00

Farnham, Albert B.:
HOME MANUFACTURE OF FURS AND SKINS
A.R. Harding, Columbus, OH, 1944.

All the ghoulish aspects of tanning and dressing animal hides, plus helpful advice on marketing the finished product.

<-- front cover

2010-10-10T06:04:00.001-04:00

MacBeth, George:
PENGUIN BOOK OF SICK VERSE
Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, 1963.

Morbid obsessions, visions of despair, extravagant emotion, perverted action, sick jokes, and nightmares: an editorial conceit so compelling that the uneven quality of the anthologized poetry hardly matters.

<-- front cover

2010-10-10T06:03:00.001-04:00

Hamilton, Alice:
MANITOBAN STAINED GLASS
University of Winnipeg Press, 1970.

The pious light of the northern prairies, filtering into a church or synagogue through multicoloured windows... it makes you feel kinda wistful, doesn't it?

<-- p. 209, "Boy Scout"

2010-10-10T06:02:00.000-04:00

Richardson, W.T.:
HISTORIC PULASKI, BIRTHPLACE OF THE KU KLUX KLAN [etc.]
[Self-published, Lynnville, TN], 1913.

Uncommonly sinister: an unapologetic history of the Klan, published by its founding members in one of the most fanatical corners of the former Confederacy. Includes facsimile of the Klan's "cipher code," used for conspiratorial correspondence.

<-- copyright page & frontis photo

2010-10-10T06:01:00.000-04:00

Heline, Corinne:
ESOTERIC MUSIC BASED ON THE MUSICAL SEERSHIP OF RICHARD WAGNER
New Age Press, Los Angeles, 1953.

Oh, that explains it. "Wagner was an emissary sent to earth from the great inner-plane Temple of Music. In that exalted center of learning, musical Initiates acquire sensitivity to hear the music of the spheres."

<-- front cover

2010-09-19T15:06:00.001-04:00

n/a:
LEVI'S DENIM ART CONTEST: CATALOGUE OF WINNERS
Baron Wolman/Squarebooks, Mill Valley, CA, 1974.

Eye-popping '70s freak culture on parade: 50 prize-winning examples of embellished-denim folk fashion (appliqué, embroidery, patchwork, rivets, etc.), in many cases modeled by the contestants themselves.

<-- front cover

2010-09-19T15:05:00.001-04:00

n/a:
THE WORK
Lautir Press, Toronto, [ca. 1954].

A vest-pocket guide to Masonic rituals, with the directions cryptically abbreviated to perplex outsiders: "S.D. steps up and gives S.W. (in a whisper) the P.W. of a F.C. with the P.G."

<-- pp. 130-131

2010-09-19T15:04:00.000-04:00

Homsy, Martha, and Doris Keppeler:
THE HULA: THE DANCE AND ITS MEANING
Tongg Publishing, Honolulu, 1950.

As gently erotic as a balmy, hibiscus-scented breeze rustling a grass skirt. Illustrated with many sequential photos of dancers in action -- enchanting of course.

<-- front cover

2010-09-19T15:03:00.000-04:00

Davies, D.P.:
HANDLING THE BIG JETS
Air Registration Board, Redhill, Surrey, 1968.

"The demand of jet transport flying can best be met by enthusiasm." Illustrated with 80 dynamic colour graphs and a dozen photographic plates.

<-- front cover

2010-09-19T15:02:00.002-04:00

Haikonen, Atte (ed.):
MUNICIPAL COATS OF ARMS OF FINLAND
Suomen Kunnallisliitto, Helsinki, [1976].

An obsessive, even pathological, collection of heraldic escutcheons, representing 570 towns and provinces in one of the world's most thinly populated countries. Text in Finnish, Swedish, and English.

<-- pp. 86-87 [Parikkala to Pihlajavesi]

2010-09-19T15:01:00.000-04:00

Wall, Florence E.:
CANITICS: THE TREATMENT OF CANITIES REDUCED TO A SCIENCE, ELEVATED TO AN ART
Beautician Publications Inc., New York, 1926.

Like a bad dye job, this beauty-parlor manual hides behind ominous scientific-sounding language to describe the latest techniques for tinting gray hair.

<-- front cover

2010-08-15T06:06:00.001-04:00

Bailey, Wellesley C.:
THE LEPERS OF OUR INDIAN EMPIRE: A VISIT TO THEM IN 1890-91.
Darien Press, Edinburgh, 1899.

The white man's burden, dutifully shouldered by missionaries at leper colonies throughout the subcontinent; with descriptions of morbidly disfigured natives pleading for divine mercy.

<-- front cover

2010-08-15T06:04:00.001-04:00

Traylor, Joseph G.:
PHYSICS OF STEREO/QUAD SOUND
Iowa State University, Ames, 1977.

For the insatiable geek audiophile who demands the deepest possible involvement with this subject, each chapter concludes with a set of questions and exercises.

<-- front cover

2010-08-15T06:04:00.000-04:00

Gold, Frances Joslin:
THE INSTANT DECORATOR
Clarkson N. Potter, New York, 1976

A spiral-bound tool for decorators: large-scale line drawings of 16 typical room layouts, with transparency overlays for testing combinations of fabrics, wallpapers, or colour swatches.

<-- front cover (detail)

2010-08-15T06:03:00.000-04:00

Romans, John R. and P. Thomas Ziegler:
THE MEAT WE EAT
Interstate Printers & Publishers, Danville, IL, 1977.

Covers every aspect of the meat economy, from pasture to plate: slaughtering practices; packing-house by-products; inspection and grading; preservation and storage; merchandising; organizations that promote meat; etc.

<-- front cover

2010-08-15T06:02:00.001-04:00

Sholl, Clarence Vreeland:
SHOLL'S HUMANITOME
Verbis Publishing Co., Flushing, NY, 1946

An anthropocentric thesaurus, methodically listing 60,000 English words to describe human physical attributes, mental states, and activities. (Every other class of word is omitted.)

<-- front cover

2010-08-15T06:01:00.001-04:00

Costa, E. and S. Garattini, eds.:
INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON AMPHETAMINES AND RELATED COMPOUNDS
Raven Press, New York, 1970.

Over 900 pages of useful clinical data. "In rats, amphetamine can elicit an abnormal stereotyped behavior consisting of continuous sniffing, licking or biting... in humans, meaningless, perserverative mechanical work on cars, radios, etc. was also observed."

<-- front cover

2010-07-18T06:06:00.001-04:00

Brebion, H.:
THE LEGEND OF THE CARVED ROCKS OF ROTHENEUF
Combier, Mâcon, 1955.

A confusing guidebook to an irrational monument: 300 sculptures depicting a long-dead clan of pirates, carved into the rocky Breton shoreline by a hermit. Text in imperfect English; with 16 heliogravure photos.

<-- pp. 16-17

2010-07-18T06:05:00.000-04:00

Kaspar, Karl:
VACATION HOUSES: AN INTERNATIONAL SURVEY
Frederick A. Praeger, New York, 1967.

Where austere modernists go to unwind: a low wooden lake cottage in Finland; a geometric split-level on an Italian hillside; even a cryptic prefab "plastic egg" from Japan. With hundreds of photos; text in German and English.

<-- front cover

2010-07-18T06:04:00.000-04:00

Moore, Harry H.:
KEEPING IN CONDITION: A HANDBOOK ON TRAINING FOR OLDER BOYS
Macmillan Co., New York, 1919.

"A boy cannot continue to look upon immorally suggestive pictures, hear so-called 'smutty stories,' or indulge in sexual thoughts without a harmful physical reaction."

<-- frontis and title page

2010-07-18T06:03:00.002-04:00

[Herford, Beatrice]:
BEATRICE HERFORD'S MONOLOGUES
Samuel French, New York, 1947.

Eighteen theatrical routines on mundane subjects (Choosing the Wall Papers; Man with a Cold; At the Optician's; etc.). An uncomfortable marriage of light chatter and existential hell.

<-- front cover

2010-07-18T06:02:00.000-04:00

[Lovesick Lake Native Women's Association]:
THE RURAL AND NATIVE HERITAGE COOKBOOK
Burleigh Falls, ON, 1985.

Pan Fried Bear Steak; Raccoon Delight; Beaver Tails in Sauce; Muskrat Hash; Buffaloaf; etc.

<-- front cover

2010-07-18T06:01:00.002-04:00

n/a:
SARAH BELL AND FANNY BLAKE
Religious Tract Society, London, [ca. 1839].

A gloomy abecedary in verse, each letter representing a lesson for Christian living, or cautioning against a dire sin. Diminutive vest-pocket format; illustrated with engravings.

<-- pp. 14-15 (D for Death; E for Eternity)

2010-06-13T22:06:00.003-04:00

Aro, Pirkko:
ARABIA DESIGN.
Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava, Helsinki, 1958.

Soulful artists who manufacture sensible housewares: here are brief professional bios of 26 designers at the Arabia factory in Finland, accompanied by highlights of individual craft specialties and disarmingly earnest photo portraits. Text in English.

<-- front cover

2010-06-13T22:05:00.001-04:00

Carson, Byrta:
HOW YOU LOOK AND DRESS
McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1959.

"Mastery of wardrobe planning and clothing construction gives a young girl a feeling of security and poise which not only assists her economically but socially and psychologically as well."

<-- front cover

2010-06-13T22:04:00.001-04:00

White, Edward T.:
A GRAPHIC VOCABULARY FOR ARCHITECTURAL PRESENTATION
Architectural Media, Tucson, 1972.

Over 800 line drawings (people, furniture, shrubbery, wall textures, etc.) to jazz up your architectural sketches... or to populate the glass penthouse of your imagination.

<-- p. 32, Human Figures

2010-06-13T22:03:00.001-04:00

n/a:
CHINESE FOLK PAPER CUTS
No place, no date. [Taiwan? ca. 1970s?]

Not a book, but a folder containing nine ethereal images: theatrical figures and masks, cut from impossibly delicate sheets of tissue paper.

<-- cover of binder, with two cuts

2010-06-13T22:02:00.001-04:00

Metcalf, Keyes D.:
PLANNING ACADEMIC AND RESEARCH LIBRARY BUILDINGS
McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1965.

Viewed from the digital age, no other subject looks so hopelessly obsolete. (Special ironic bonus: this copy was discarded by the library of an Ivy League university.)

<-- front cover

2010-06-13T22:01:00.000-04:00

Merkulov, A.:
AUTOMATION SERVES MAN
Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, [ca. 1960].

"One cannot help being enthusiastic about the wholly automated shop for the mass production of antifriction bearings at the First State Bearings Plant in Moscow."

<-- front cover

2010-06-06T06:06:00.001-04:00

Paulsen, Chas.:
BASEBALL CURVES.
Warp Publishing Co., Minden, NE, 1936.

The science and technique of tricky pitching, "written for the experimenter, student and theorist as well as for the Amateur and Professional baseball player." With many photos and graphs.

<-- front cover

2010-06-06T06:05:00.000-04:00

Ashley, Roberta:
SINGERS AND SWINGERS IN THE KITCHEN
Parallax Publishing, New York, 1967.

Unchallenging recipes gathered from pop stars: the Mamas and the Papas' "Chili Esperanza"; Simon and Garfunkel's potato pancakes; Paul Anka's "Party Spaghetti"; etc.

<-- front cover

2010-06-06T06:04:00.000-04:00

Farnham, Albert B.:
HOME TAXIDERMY FOR PLEASURE AND PROFIT
A.R. Harding, Columbus, OH, 1916.

"Monkeys, bear cubs and alligators mounted erect with card trays are quite striking; equally so are foxes or raccoons peering over the edge of umbrella jars or waste baskets."

<-- front cover

2010-06-06T06:03:00.000-04:00

n/a:
THE ENGLISH DUDEN: A PICTORIAL DICTIONARY
Librairie Marcel Didier, Paris, 1960.

Learn English by pointing! Here 25,000 nouns, obsessively grouped by genus, are visually represented as line-art details in hundreds of "real world" scenarios.

<-- pp. 454-455 (The Town, II)

2010-06-06T06:02:00.000-04:00

Stokhuyzen, Frederick:
THE DUTCH WINDMILL
Universe Books, New York, [ca. 1965].

The history, functional typology, mechanical design, and folk symbolism of Dutch windmills; with a 6-page technical glossary for more serious students of the subject.

<-- front cover

2010-06-06T06:01:00.001-04:00

von Hagen, Conny:
ALCOA'S BOOK OF DECORATIONS
Golden Press, New York, 1959.

A creative way to increase your aluminum foil consumption: fold, crumple, and sculpt it into animal puppets, Halloween masks, Christmas angels, bridal centerpieces...

<-- front cover

2010-05-30T16:36:00.001-04:00

n/a:
DESIGN FOR MODERN LIVING: STORES, SHOPPING CENTERS, SHOWROOMS.
F.W. Dodge Corp., New York, 1954.

The architectural locus of American consumerism (shoes in Hackensack, men's wear in Houston, watches in Beverly Hills, etc.) at the zenith of its confidence and sex-appeal. With hundreds of photos and floor plans.

<-- front cover

2010-05-30T16:35:00.000-04:00

Westermeier, Clifford P.:
MAN, BEAST, DUST: THE STORY OF RODEO
World Press, [Denver?], 1948.

With sections on early stampedes and round-ups; famous bucking horses; the bull riding event; rodeo superstitions; cowboy hats, boots, and spurs; rodeo announcers; "thrill circuses"; and much more.

<-- front cover

2010-05-30T16:34:00.001-04:00

Gíslason, Gylfi:
THE PROBLEM OF BEING AN ICELANDER: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
Almenna Bókafélagio, Reykjavík, 1973.

A dilemma facing approximately one in every 23,000 living humans. (Text in English.)

<-- front cover

2010-05-30T16:33:00.000-04:00

n/a:
SPORTSMANLIKE DRIVING
American Automobile Association, Washington, 1958.

"Man is reduced to a weak and foolish-looking creature when the power he is supposed to be directing runs away with him."

<-- front cover

2010-05-30T16:32:00.001-04:00

Booth, Joy:
COOKING FOR CAMPERS
Paul Hamlyn, Feltham, UK, 1968.

Suitable for only the very most advanced campwives: recipes for stuffed egg salad, ragoût of pigs' kidneys, sweet pepper and bacon risotto, honey soufflé omelette, etc.

<-- front cover

2010-05-30T16:31:00.000-04:00

Vagale, L.R. and O.C. Adekoya:
INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENT OF A NIGERIAN CITY: CASE STUDY OF IBADAN
The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Nigeria, 1974.

"Smoke, dust, noise, heat, glare, vibration, toxic effluents and chimney outfalls tend to pose a threat to the health and well-being of the community." With many graphs and photos.

<-- front cover

2010-05-23T06:06:00.001-04:00

Caballero Bonald, José M.:
ANDALUSIAN DANCES.
Editorial Noguer, Barcelona, 1957.

Spanish melodrama on the dance floor: a bewitching combination of corny and erotic. With 60 pages of gravure photos, and a thorough descriptive text in English.

<-- Plates 6 & 7, "Two mobile poses"

2010-05-23T06:05:00.000-04:00

Stoddard, Edward:
HOW TO REMEMBER NAMES AND FACES
Nelson Doubleday, Garden City, NY, 1958.

Not just a booklet, but a "progress kit," with 15 mugshot practice cards of unremarkable fictional characters (grocer, accountant, secretary, etc.) whose identities you can memorize in your spare time.

<-- front cover, with practice cards

2010-05-23T06:04:00.002-04:00

Ayoob, Massad F.:
FUNDAMENTALS OF MODERN POLICE IMPACT WEAPONS
Police Bookshelf, Concord, NH, 1984.

Techniques of applied brutality with batons, saps, flashlights, etc.; with numerous photo-demonstrations by instructors costumed like the Village People.

<-- front cover

2010-05-23T06:03:00.000-04:00

"The TV Vet":
TV VET BOOK FOR PIG FARMERS
Farming Press Ltd., Ipswich, 1979.

All the glamour of veterinary television in convenient book form: descriptions of over 50 swine ailments (joint-ill; vomiting and wasting disease; pig-pox; prolapsed anus; etc.), illustrated with appalling photos.

<-- front cover

2010-05-23T06:02:00.000-04:00

Sparer, Fred:
HOW TO BUILD MOBILE HOME PARKS
Trail-R-Club of America, Beverly Hills, 1971.

The philosophy and implementation of domestic impermanence in the automotive age. 700+ pages long, and packed with hundreds of photos, blueprints, government regulations, etc.

<-- front cover

2010-05-23T06:01:00.000-04:00

n/a:
HEMPHILL BANNER PARTS CATALOG FOR SOLID PATTERN MACHINE MODEL SCP-TS
Hemphill Company, Pawtucket, R.I., 1953.

Curious about the configuration and technical nomenclature of commercial sock-weaving machinery? With the help of these highly detailed schematics, you can identify every tooth sprocket, ratchet brake, tension spring, lever wire...

<-- Index to Plates, Rear View

2010-05-09T06:06:00.006-04:00

n/a:
SNOW-FLAKES: A CHAPTER FROM THE BOOK OF NATURE.
American Tract Society, Boston, 1863.

Viewed through a magnifying glass, the snowflake reveals a multifaceted religious metaphor: purity, grace, weakness, etc. With a dozen perfect monochrome plates of snow crystals.

<-- decorative half-title

2010-05-09T06:05:00.005-04:00

Wilke, Hermann:
DEIN "JA" ZUM LEIBE! [Your "Yes" to the Body!]
Verlag Deutsche Leibeszucht, Berlin, 1939.

Family nudism in the wholesome sunshine of the fatherland. German text; with 90 photos of naked bodies exercising on sand dunes, meadows, and ski slopes.

<-- pp. 86-87

2010-05-09T06:04:00.005-04:00

Clarke, Jeanne:
PAPUA NEW GUINEA COOKERY
Macmillan Co. of Australia, South Melbourne, 1977.

Despite a promising photo-sequence on how to skin a crocodile, the emphasis is vegetarian (sago, manioc, banana).

<-- front cover

2010-05-09T06:03:00.005-04:00

Minnich, Jerry:
THE EARTHWORM BOOK
Rodale Press, Emmaus, PA, 1977.

High-brow example of the "raise your own worms" genre. Includes a historical overview of human/worm relations; many technical graphs; and a 66-page bibliography.

<-- front cover

2010-05-09T06:02:00.006-04:00

Collins, Frank D.:
POPULAR SPORTS, THEIR ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT
Rand McNally & Co., Chicago, 1935.

The history of sports, served as digestible trivia tidbits with Ripleyesque illustrations; the definition stretched to include car racing, cock fighting, and dice throwing.

<-- front cover

2010-05-09T06:01:00.005-04:00

Bowen, Godfrey:
WOOL AWAY: THE ART AND TECHNIQUE OF SHEARING
Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1974.

The romance of shearing; how to control the sheep; cutters and combs; sticky, sandy, or wet sheep; shearing competitions; etc. Originally published in New Zealand.

<-- front cover

2010-04-25T11:26:00.000-04:00

James, Barry:
CALL ME MISTER.
Milady Publishing, Bronx, NY, 1974.

Everything your dad was supposed to teach you: how to fold a handkerchief, shop for a plaid blazer, offer a lady a cigarette... even how get a job in public relations. Illustrated.

<-- front cover

2010-04-25T11:25:00.000-04:00

McClow, L.L.; D.N. Anderson (illus.):
TUMBLING ILLUSTRATED
A.S. Barnes & Co., New York, 1931.

Gymnastics rendered in absurdist shorthand, with over 650 floor routines portrayed as sequences of squiggly stick-figures.

<-- pp. 104-105 (One Performer and Thrower)

2010-04-25T11:24:00.000-04:00

Uhlin, Donald M. and Edith de Chiara:
ART FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN
Wm. C. Brown Publishers, Dubuque, IA, 1984.

Emotional disturbance and art expression; art and the violence-prone personality; structuring and maintaining reality; etc. With over 300 unsettling illustrations.

<-- front cover

2010-04-25T11:23:00.000-04:00

Wilson, D. Miller:
AN INSTRUCTION BOOK ON THE PIANO-PLAYER AND THE PLAYER-PIANO
[self-published, London, ca. 1910].

"Like a great steam hammer, which can crack a walnut or strike with tons of force, the player-piano has every gradation of touch from the softest pianissimo to the loudest fortissimo."

<-- Fig. IV & p. 25 (Driving Gear and Re-Wind Mechanism)

2010-04-25T11:22:00.000-04:00

n/a:
CLASSIFIED LIST AND INTERNATIONAL REGISTER OF DAFFODIL NAMES
Royal Horticultural Society, London, 1969.

The names of over 11,000 daffodil cultivars, many of which are also suitable as CB radio handles (i.e., Tuba; Moon Boy; Gremlin; Salmon Queen; etc.).

<-- front cover

2010-04-25T11:21:00.000-04:00

n/a:
A WAY TO DO IT BETTER
Eastman Kodak Co., [Rochester, NY, 1971].

A large-format publicity piece promoting the commercial possibilities of industrial photography; with hundreds of color photos of scientific manufacturing at its most glamorous.

<-- pp. 96-97, "Aero Commander" [detail]