A book whose allure is actually increased by its utter lack of practical utility for most earthlings.

Reminder to all staff: Do NOT shelve these next to Tom of Finland!

A Sherlock Holmes mystery grows even more mysterious when printed in shorthand.

"In this day the sign letterer who does not understand colors and color harmony, and who does not know how to get up signs in color, is greatly handicapped, and his usefulness as a sign letterer is seriously interfered with."

Have you heard of the new parlour game called "Monkey's Paw"? Friends compete to see who can invent the most sublimely banal book title.

What kind of magazine devotes ten full pages to a typeface composed of naked women photographed on the floor of a Dutch gymnasium?

n/a:
PATTERN BOOK 1935. ARMSTRONG'S LINOLEUM
Armstrong Cork Co., Lancaster, PA, 1934.

If you know of anything sexier than a 340-page full-colour catalogue of Depression-era linoleum patterns, please contact us immediately.

<-- pp. 138-139

Monahan, Barbara:
A DICTIONARY OF RUSSIAN GESTURE
Hermitage, Tenafly, NJ, 1983.

The Slavic soul expressing itself in non-verbal gestures: dissatisfaction, resignation, caution, approbation, sexual innuendo, satiety, disgust, etc. Illustrated with photos.

<-- front cover

Cravat, Harland R., and Raymond Glaser:
COLOR AERIAL STEREOGRAMS OF SELECTED COASTAL AREAS OF THE UNITED STATES
U.S. Department of Commerce, Rockville, MD, 1971.

Could be useful if you're planning an amphibious invasion. Includes folding stereo viewer in pocket at rear.

<-- front cover

Logan, Herschel C.:
HAND CANNON TO AUTOMATIC: A PICTORIAL PARADE OF HAND ARMS
Standard Publications, Inc., Huntington, WV, 1944.

Lovingly rendered pen-and-ink illustrations of firearms both ancient and modern: basically it's pinup art for pistol fetishists.

<-- front cover

Lang, Robert (ed.):
LA COLLECTION DES "DOCUMENTS MÉDICAUX"
[16 issues bound in one volume]
Documents Médicaux, Paris, [ca. 1933].

In a perfectly aesthetic world, even a journal of gruesome medical photography would aspire to the highest standards of production and design… wouldn't it?

<-- "La Sympathologie"

[de Postels & Klinkel]:
TWINKLE TUNES PIANO BOOK
No publisher, no place; [ca. 1939].

The plinking of a 70-year-old toy piano makes a suitably eerie soundtrack, drifting from the back of a haunted bookshop.

<-- front cover, with toy piano keyboard

Haney, Robert, and David Ballantine; Jonathan Elliott (phot.):
WOODSTOCK HANDMADE HOUSES
Random House, New York, 1975.

The vernacular architecture of hippies in upstate New York: utopian dwellings for hermits and hobbits.

<-- front cover

[n/a]:
[BOUND ARTIFACT] (paper, leather, fur, plant material, etc.)
[no publisher, place, or date]

Bookseller's dilemma: in what section do you shelve a cryptic leatherbound book-object, apparently handmade as an art stunt by a mad occultist?

<-- (fur, vellum, Satan)

[Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory]:
THE EFFECTS OF ATOMIC WEAPONS
U.S. Department of Defense, Washington, 1950.

Disclaimer: "Atomic explosion phenomena are so complex as to make precise quantitative evaluation of their results almost impossible."

<-- front cover

Schroeder, Francis de Neufville; Alvin Lustig (dustjacket):

ANATOMY FOR INTERIOR DESIGNERS; AND HOW TO TALK TO A CLIENT

Whitney Publications, New York, 1951.

What, bibliographically speaking, makes a book "sexy"? It's the combination of intriguing subject matter; smart design; and an ineffable, but bewitching, physical allure. Like this.

<-- front cover

Djebar, Assia; Magnum (phot.)

WOMEN OF ISLAM

Bruna Book/Andre Deutsch, London, 1961.

This daring photographic survey includes dozens of provocative full-face shots. 

<-- front cover

Little, W.B.:

SCIENCE IN THE HOME

Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, London, 1932. 

"Once, people feared the scientist and looked upon his work as 'Black Magic.' To-day we recognize him as our friend."

<-- front cover

n/a:

DOWN BUT NOT OUT [CFP 217]

Minister of Supply and Services Canada, Hull, 1978.

RCAF survival guide for downed aircrews, addressing the basic conditions of existence: "Pain, cold, thirst, hunger, fatigue, boredom, and loneliness..."

<-- front cover

Sumner, Lloyd:

COMPUTER ART AND HUMAN RESPONSE

[Self-published], Charlottesville, VA, 1968.

Geek creativity of the early digital era: the true avant-garde.

<-- p. 71, "The Noble Alternative"

Arnim, Faye:

FUR CRAFT: HOW TO GLAMORIZE YOUR WARDROBE WITH FUR

Key Publishing Co., New York, 1964.

Includes instructions on how to make a fur coat for your poodle.

<-- front cover

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

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

[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

Bishop, George: 

THE WORLD OF CLOWNS

Brooke House Publishers, Los Angeles, 1976.

Get your Gacy on!

<-- front cover