n/a:
A KEY TO ESPERANTO
[British Esperanto Association, London, ca. 1940].

Everyone's favorite universal language, fully explicated in a humble pamphlet not much larger than a credit card.

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Vishneva-Sarafanova, N.:
SOVIET WOMEN -- A PORTRAIT
Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1981.

A retired fighter pilot; the headmistress of a tractor-driving school; the winner of the Moscow Hairdressing Contest; etc.

<-- front cover

Glasstone, Samuel (ed.):
THE EFFECTS OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Revised Edition. U.S. Dept. of Defense, Washington, 1962.

With handy circular slide rule ("Atomic Bomb Effects Calculator") in pocket at rear.

<-- front cover and slide rule insert

Kapp, Ronald O.:
HOW TO KNOW POLLEN AND SPORES
Wm. C. Brown Co, Dubuque, IA, 1969.

To the uninitiated, it's just dust.

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Bryan, Mary de Garmo:
THE SCHOOL CAFETERIA
F.S. Crofts & Co., New York, 1943.

The subject evokes a complicated stew of emotions in many former students.

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Huff, Sandy:
THE MAYAN CALENDAR MADE EASY [etc.]
Self-published; Safety Harbor, FL, 1984.

Insanely complicated, despite the encouraging title.

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Abramson, Harold A. (ed.):
NEUROPHARMACOLOGY, TRANSACTIONS OF THE THIRD CONFERENCE
Josiah Macy, Jr., Foundation, New York, 1957.

Articles include "Effect of LSD-25 on Snails," "Production and Control of Alcoholic Cravings in Rats," etc.

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Fiddes, Victor:
THE ARCHITECTURAL REQUIREMENTS OF PROTESTANT WORSHIP
Ryerson Press, Toronto, 1961.

Interesting, but distinctly dry -- just the way the vicar likes his sherry.

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Antrim, Minna Thomas:
A MIMIC'S CALENDAR FOR 1905
Henry Altemus Co., Philadelphia, 1904.

Tart aphorisms and pretty art nouveau duotones for every week of the year.

<-- pp. 10-11

Davis, J.J.:
COMMON WHITE GRUBS
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, 1929.

Three and a half pounds of lead arsenate per 100 square feet of lawn should take care of the problem.

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Grave, Felix:
FENCING COMPREHENSIVE
Hutchinson & Co, London [ca. 1934].

With a couple of brief (but very useful) sections on the protocol of conducting formal duels.

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Grumley, Michael; Ed Gallucci (phot.):
HARD CORPS: STUDIES IN LEATHER AND SADOMASOCHISM
E.P. Dutton, New York, 1977.

Is it uncomfortable to wear a leather vest without a shirt underneath?

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Western Advertising magazine:
12th ANNUAL PORTFOLIO OF WESTERN ADVERTISING ART
Ramsey Oppenheim Pubs., San Francisco, 1957.

Evidence that late-1950s commercial art from California was the supreme expression of 20th century visual culture.

<-- front cover

Wilson, K., and D.J.B. White:
THE ANATOMY OF WOOD: ITS DIVERSITY AND VARIABILITY
Stobart & Son Ltd., London, 1986.

Those micro-photos of cellulose would make mesmerizing wallpaper patterns.

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Hooker, Worthington:
HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY
Farmer, Brace, & Co., New York, 1856.

Of particular interest: Chapter XVII, "Connection of the Mind with the Body."

<-- pp. 80-81

Kazakevich, E[mmanuil]:
SPRING ON THE ODER
Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, 1953.

Sometimes you just feel like curling up with a Stalinist war novel.

<-- title page

Grozinger, Wolfgang:
SCRIBBLING, DRAWING, PAINTING: THE EARLY FORMS OF THE CHILD'S PICTORIAL CREATIVENESS
Faber and Faber, London, [1955].

What could be more touching than a three-year-old's drawing of a mouse eating grapes?

<-- front cover

Etlin, Richard A.:
THE ARCHITECTURE OF DEATH: THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE CEMETERY IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY PARIS
MIT Press, Cambridge, 1984.

File under "gothitecture."

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Kunstmann, Josef:
THE TRANSFORMATION OF EROS
Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh, 1964.

Creepy kitsch: a collection of 80 "putti" (i.e., cherubs) from the Bavarian Baroque, most of them photographed in cloying, blushing colour.

<-- plate 42

Batterson, Mark, and William W. Boddie (eds.):
SALT, THE MYSTERIOUS NECESSITY
Dow Chemical Company, [Midland, MI], 1972.

Published as a gift to all Dow employees on the occasion of the company's 75th anniversary; with presentation letter laid in.

<-- front cover