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.

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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.

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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.

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[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.

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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."

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[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.

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[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.

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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.

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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.

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

A study of Mother Nature at her most lascivious.

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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