Shaftesbury, Edmund [pseud. Webster Edgerly]:
INSTANTANEOUS PERSONAL MAGNETISM
Ralston University Press, Meriden, CT, 1929.

Long-winded crypto-scientific sermons by a disagreeable self-improvement guru, who ultimately found success as a manufacturer of breakfast cereals.

<-- front cover

[Underground Space Center, University of Minnesota]:
EARTH SHELTERED HOUSING DESIGN
Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1979.

A handsome and confident technical resource for anyone planning a "below grade" home. (The finished examples look like basements without buildings on top.)

<-- front cover

[wine & liquor label album]:
"LABELS"
[blank journal, ca. 1970]

Remembrances of hangovers past: labels from over 100 sweet fizzy wines, flavored liqueurs, cheap gins, etc., lovingly pasted into an album. No text.

<-- "Crème de Menthe"

n/a:
SWIMMING IN NEW CHINA -- THE MASS WAY
People's Sports Publishing House, Peking, [ca. 1976].

In a reactionary's nightmare, the rivers, lakes, and canals become a human soup, filled with bobbing proles paddling furiously toward shore. Illustrated with photos.

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Smith, Wilbert B.; Timothy Green Beckley (ed.):
THE BOYS FROM TOPSIDE
Saucerian Books, Clarksburg, WV, 1969.

"One of the most interesting aspects of the study of flying saucers, beyond the realization that they are real and extraterrestrial, is their philosophy."

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[Charles Cluthe & Sons]:
CLUTHE'S ADVICE TO THE RUPTURED
Cluthe Rupture Institute, Bloomfield, NJ, 1912.

Rein in your hernia with a truss manufactured by the Cluthe family, and perhaps you'll join the satisfied customers whose testimonials occupy 23 pages of this hard-selling promotional book.

<-- frontis & title page

Hennessey, James, and Victor Papanek:
NOMADIC FURNITURE
Pantheon Books, New York, 1973.

A sensible and eco-oriented guide to cheap, portable and build-it-yourself furnishings for students and other urban gypsies; includes a description of an entire secondhand bookshop built from fruit crates.

<-- front cover

n/a:
POULTRY PORTRAITS: No. 1, ENGLISH TYPES
Canadian Poultry Review, Toronto, [ca. 1898].

For the devoted chicken fancier, a portfolio of 12 large-format engravings (Hamburg Hen, Minorca Pullet, Black Hamburg Cock, etc.), suitable for framing.

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Jowett, George F.:
MOLDING A MIGHTY GRIP
Jowett Institute of Physical Culture, Philadelphia, 1930.

A strong-man program for those who wish to hoist a barrel of nails using only the tips of their fingers; to our satisfaction, the first exercise involves lifting a heavy book.

<-- front cover

Wilke, Arthur:
DIE ELEKTRIZITAT, IHRE ERZEUGUNG UND IHRE UNWENDUNG [etc.]
["Electricity, Its Production and Its Application..."]
Verlag Otto Spamer, Leipzig, 1895.

The romantic spirit of Imperial Germany expressed as an electrified technological utopia, with over 800 engravings, diagrams, and photos.

<-- front cover

Bozzini, Lidio (ed.):
ITALIAN PRODUCTION 1961
Unitalia Film, Rome, 1962.

Catalogue of 130 not-so-famous Italian movies from 1961, illustrated with select stills. Sultry eyebrows, well-groomed moustaches, and roman sandals much in evidence; text in English.

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Henry, Alfred J.:
LOSS OF LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES BY LIGHTNING
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (Weather Bureau), Washington, 1901.

"The greatest fatality from a single stroke occurred at Chicago, where 11 persons, huddled together in a zinc-lined shanty under a pier, met instant death."

<-- front cover

Rohleder, Hermann:
TEST TUBE BABIES
Panurge Press, New York, 1934.

Historical Development of Artificial Impregnation; Technique of the Operation; Best Method of Obtaining the Semen; Artificial Impregnation with the Semen of a Stranger; etc.

<-- title page

n/a:
THE PUPPET IN YOUR COMMUNITY
Ontario Department of Education, [Toronto], 1953.

"Mr. Puppet will sing, dance and clown his way into the hearts of all who meet him. His antics will enliven any social gathering."

<-- front cover

["Diet Book"]
WALKER'S PEARL DIARY 1929
John Walker & Co., London, [1928].

A partly-used datebook, smaller than an arrowroot biscuit, in which an invalid has catalogued his bland meals; the inauspicious final entry (Aug. 3) reads, "Pain about 5:00 o'clock."

<-- front cover, with penny for scale

Browne, D.J.:
THE FIELD BOOK OF AMERICAN MANURES; OR, THE AMERICAN MUCK BOOK [etc.]
C.M. Saxton & Co., New York, 1858.

Animal manures (including human "nightsoil"); liquid manures; vegetable compost; and, most intriguingly, "Gaseous and Imponderable Manures."

<-- title page

Bliss, Charles [with Shirley McNaughton]:
THE BOOK TO THE FILM "MR. SYMBOL MAN"
Semantography-Blissymbolics, Sydney, 1976.

The life work of an optimist who believed he could save the world by creating a "universal" pictograph language, and who subsequently became the subject of a 1974 documentary.

<-- front cover

Heriot, Angus:
THE CASTRATI IN OPERA
John Calder Ltd., London, 1960.

"...strange creatures mutilated in the name of art, but sometimes reaping rewards more glittering than any other singers have achieved..."

<-- front cover

MacFadden, Bernarr:
HAIR CULTURE
Physical Culture Corp., New York, 1922.

A quack's theory on hair health, illustrated with dozens of faintly obscene photos of young models brushing, towelling, massaging, and tugging at their thick manes.

<-- frontis and title page

Tabak, Aelene, and Rochelle Savetman:
CB HANDLES
Dell Publishing, New York, 1977.

Even if you're not a trucker, you can still use these as gmail addresses, pet names, or insulting nicknames for coworkers.

<-- front cover

Chekiang Fine Arts Institute Drawing Group, et al.:
TUNNEL WARFARE
Foreign Languages Press, Peking, 1972.

Rendered glorious: In this ideological graphic novel, stoic Chinese peasants use Maoist guerrilla tactics to defeat their Japanese fascist oppressors.

<-- front cover

Asomugha, C.N.C.:
NIGERIAN SLANGS
Abic Publishers, Onitsha, Nigeria, 1981.

Champalm; magun; lookry; footreon; hole power; and hundreds of other "conventionally unacceptable words and phrases."

<-- front cover

Lassiter, Luther:
BILLIARDS FOR EVERYONE
Grosset & Dunlap, New York, 1971.

Densely illustrated with time-stretching "continuous-sequence action photos" of ball trajectories -- like acid visuals in the rec room.

<-- front cover

[Greenfield, Jeff, et al.]:
JEFF GREENFIELD'S BOOK OF BOOKS
National Lampoon, New York, 1979.

Some would call it conceptual art: a digest of fake books, cruelly spoofing the covers and contents of 15 unfortunate genres.

<-- front cover

Wheeler, Russell C.:
AN ATLAS OF TOOTH FORM
4th Edition. W.B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, 1969.

Perhaps one day denture carving will find acceptance in the pantheon of hobbies, alongside fly-tying and building model ships in bottles.

<-- pp. 106-107

Clark, Mary E., and Margery Closey Quigley:
ETIQUETTE EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW
The Parents' Institute, Inc., New York, 1939.

Here's why: "The doors of good society gradually close and the dinner and dance invitations are not sent to persons who do third-rate things."

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Svandrlik, Miloslav, and "Neprakta" (illus.):
PRAGUE GHOSTS
Pragopress, Praha, 1968.

The 45 individual ghosts known to haunt Prague neighborhoods are treated here not as malevolent ghouls, but as harmless urban eccentrics. Text in English.

<-- front cover

Cross, R.W. Jeremy L.:
THE TRUE MASONIC CHART, OR HIEROGLYPHIC MONITOR [etc.]
S.A. Rollo & Co., New York, 1859.

A practitioner's guide to Freemasonry, with 52 baffling engravings of emblems and graphic devices, intended to elucidate the brotherhood's occult iconography.

<-- frontis engraving & title page

Sorrows, Gene:
ALL ABOUT CARNIVALS
American Federation of Police, Miami, 1985.

Longtime carny turns snitch, reveals the secrets behind the sleazy swindles of the midway; very entertaining glossary also.

<-- front cover

n/a:
ILLUSTRATED PRICE CATALOGUE OF OLD BOOKS WANTED
American Book Mart, Chicago, 1937.

Apparently booksellers have always been generous: these folks would gladly offer you $3.50 for the original 1922 Paris edition of Joyce's "Ulysses."

<-- front cover

Phillips, H.I. ("Hi"):
THE FOOLISH QUESTION BOOK
Edward J. Clode Inc., New York, 1927.

"Q: Where is rubber found? A: In chicken pies... Q: Where are bisons found? A: On the backs of nickels... Q: Where is Madagascar? A: Heavens! Have they misplaced that again?"

<-- front cover

Dubas, Frederic, and Jacques Vallotton (eds.):
COLOUR ATLAS OF MOUNTAIN MEDICINE
Mosby Year Book, St. Louis, 1991.

Acute frostbite, high-altitude neurological disturbances, compound skiing fractures, mountaineering head trauma, etc.; with alarmingly grisly photos throughout.

<-- front cover

Schoenleber, F.S., and R.R. Dykstra:
CASTRATION OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS
Orange Judd Co., New York, 1919.

There's more than one way to emasculate a cat: this instructive manual describes scraping, crushing, twisting, ligating, and tearing away.

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Sayer, Edgar Sheappard:
PIDGIN ENGLISH
Self-published mimeograph, Toronto, 1939.

A uniquely eccentric study of ethno-linguistics; also an inadvertent lesson on proper English, as written by a sneering racist during the late colonial period.

<-- front cover

[flip book]:
ACTION MINI-MOVIES
[no bibliographic data given; ca. 1940s].

Jaded 21st century pornaholics may scoff, but we believe this tiny, furtive photo-sequence of a woman in a bubble-bath still retains a saucy charm.

<-- front cover, with pencil for scale

Kivengere, Festo:
I LOVE IDI AMIN
Fleming H. Revell Co., Old Tappan, NJ, 1977.

With the patience of Job, this Ugandan bishop maintained his Christian optimism while his colleagues were being tortured and murdered.

<-- front cover

MacFarlane, C.:
THE LIVES AND EXPLOITS OF BANDITTI AND ROBBERS IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD
T. Tegg, London, 1839.

"It may be said that no species of narrative, except, perhaps, that of shipwrecks, produces a deeper impression on people of all ages and conditions."

<-- front cover

[mail-order catalog]:
NATIONAL MAGIC COMPANY CATALOG NUMBER 3
Chicago, 1940.

Hundreds of illustrated ads for stage tricks like the Immortal Cigarette; Aladdin's Tea Kettle; the Mystic Tube; Cabbage from a Hat; etc. With order blank laid in.

<-- front cover

[four volumes in leather travel wallet]:
MIDGET DICTIONARIES: ENGLISH (to/from) FRENCH; ITALIAN; GERMAN; SPANISH
Burgess & Bowes Ltd., London, [ca. 1960].

Surprisingly comprehensive, considering that the books are the size of matchboxes.

<-- interior of wallet

Alison, Crichton (ed.):
MEN IN WOMEN'S CLOTHES
Medical Publishing Co., New York, [ca. 1950].

Impostors in Petticoats; The Lure of Dainty Things; Men with Feminine Bodies; A Transvestite Confesses; and more.

<-- front cover

Huddleston, Sisley:
PARIS SALONS, CAFES, STUDIOS
J.B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, 1928.

For romance, nothing surpasses bohemian Paris in the early 20th century -- even when it's remembered by a pompous, name-dropping poseur.

<-- front cover

Nagahara, Yoshiaki:
STATEGIC CONCEPTS OF GO
Ishi Press, Tokyo, 1972.

With whole chapters devoted to obscure Japanese game strategies like miai ("seeing together"), korigatachi ("frozen shape"), aji ("taste"), etc.

<-- "Problems," pp. 60-61

Wood, Alice L.:
THE JINGLE BOOK FOR SPEECH CORRECTION
E.P. Dutton & Co., New York, 1934.

Over 100 tongue-twisting alliterative rhymes, chosen to charm and challenge children who have difficulty pronouncing consonant sounds.

<-- front cover

Salisbury, Frank B.:
THE BIOLOGY OF FLOWERING
Natural History Press, Garden City, NY, 1971.

A study of Mother Nature at her most lascivious.

<-- front cover

Greey, Edward:
THE BEAR-WORSHIPPERS OF YEZO [etc.]
Lee and Shepard, Boston, 1884.

Disguised as the frivolous tale of an American family traveling in Japan's northern islands, this is in fact a serious and detailed study of the "hairy" Ainu people indigenous to the region.

<-- front cover

[Bosch, Vernon]:
SEXUAL DIMENSIONS: THE FACT AND FICTION OF GENITAL SIZE
[Ax Produxions, Dayton, OH, 1970].

A work of enormous interest, even if this particular copy -- lacking the first four pages -- comes up short. Includes well-developed scholarly apparatus.

<-- front cover

Alter, Dinsmore:
PICTORIAL GUIDE TO THE MOON
Thomas Y. Crowell Co., New York, 1963.

"Within a few years men will land on the moon and find out what it is really like."

<-- front cover

Cantor, Eddie:
CAUGHT SHORT! A SAGA OF WAILING WALL STREET
Musson Book Co., Toronto, 1929.

The "we laugh that we do not cry" school of publishing: Cantor, a comedian who lost a fortune in the Crash of '29, issued this humor title just six weeks later.

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[trivia card game]:
WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT CANADA?
T. Eaton Co., [Toronto, ca. 1930].

Boxed set of 144 cards, each bearing a nearly-unanswerable question about the history, geography, or culture of North America's most self-effacing nation.

<-- box front, with three cards

Talbott, John H.:
GOUT
Grune & Stratton, New York, 1964.

"Endowed with a bountiful and noble heritage, gout has afflicted many eminent persons throughout history."

<-- front cover