[promotional brochure]
WORLD TRADE CENTER, NEW YORK: THE CLOSEST SOME OF US WILL EVER GET TO HEAVEN
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, [ca. 1982].

Foldout leaflet opens to more than 30 inches wide, to accommodate a dizzying observation deck photo panorama of New York -- a view nowadays attainable only from a helicopter.

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"Koresh" [pseud. Cyrus Teed]:
THE CELLULAR COSMOGONY, OR, THE EARTH A CONCAVE SPHERE
Guiding Star Publishing House, Chicago, 1899.

The inside-out doctrine of a Florida cult leader, who maintained that all terrestrial life actually occupies the inside of a hollow sphere; with elaborate geometric evidence to prove his point.

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Bled, C.E.:
UNDERSTANDING CHINA THROUGH CARTOONS
Canadian Society for a Better Understanding of China, Ottawa, 1985.

Even accompanied by translated captions and an earnest cultural analysis, these badly-drawn didactic cartoons (culled from Beijing's "People's Daily") come across as comically inscrutable.

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Crespo, Merlito S.:
THE PAPER AIR MACHINES
Dorrance Publishing, Pittsburgh, 1993.

Blueprints for air superiority on the playground: "It only takes one 8.5x11 sheet of paper to make an accurate copy of the latest military aircraft flying in the skies today."

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Scott, Claude L.:
THE SCIENCE OF PORNOGRAPHY, VOL. 2
Editions Erectus, [no place or date; ca. 1970].

A rigorous discipline, requiring the graphic portrayal of onanism, orgies, homosexuality, bestiality, and the "grotesque fringes" of sexual behavior. (We'd love to know what Vol. 1 covered.)

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Blunt, Wilfrid, and Will Carter:
ITALIC HANDWRITING
Newman Neame, London, 1954.

For connoisseurs of elegant form and decontextualized content, this collection reproduces 44 random excerpts of handwritten letters in italic script.

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Leathem, Harvey T. and Hugh Jones:
AUTO EROTIC DEVICES [SEX GADGETS]
Century Books, Cleveland, 1968.

A refreshingly clinical description of 56 masturbatory aids (many arcane), organized by erotic function.

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Sadler, William S. and Lena K. Sadler:
THE CAUSE AND CURE OF COLDS
American Publishers Corp., Chicago, 1938.

Emphasizes the basics of prevention: cold baths, saltwater gargle, regular bowel habits, etc.

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Zinkowski, Nicholas B.:
COMMERCIAL OIL-FIELD DIVING
Cornell Maritime Press, Cambridge, MD, 1971.

Mortal risk at 50 fathoms: "The bold diver who rushes into situations without sufficient forethought tends to have a short career."

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Axler, Bruce H.:
SHOWMANSHIP IN THE DINING ROOM
ITT Educational Publishing, Indianapolis, 1974.

Big displays of salad ingredients on ice; rolling cart service; beverage drama; carving for an audience; flambé...

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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.

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[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.)

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[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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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