Marshall, Tim:
STORM CHASE MANUAL
Self-published, n.p., 1998.

Every nerdy meteorologist with a death wish keeps a copy in his glove compartment.

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Arnold, Levi M.; Anna A. MacDonald (ed.):
HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN OF ALL THINGS, INCLUDING THE HISTORY OF MAN, FROM HIS CREATION TO HIS FINALITY, BUT NOT TO HIS END
Reprint; Sananda & Sanat Kumara, Mt. Shasta, CA, [ca. 1970].

An ambitious but unconvincing text, purportedly acquired via divine revelation in 1851 by a foundry owner in Poughkeepsie, NY.

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n/a:
THE WELLCOME MUSEUM OF MEDICAL SCIENCE
Wellcome Foundation Ltd., London, [ca. 1950s].

Doesn't every clinically-minded museum geek aspire to "conformity without tedium, exactitude without restraint and tidiness without rigidity" -- ?

<-- pp. 14-15

Lartigue, Jacques-Henri:
LES FEMMES AUX CIGARETTES
Viking Press, New York, 1980.

For students of world-weary sensuality: 96 photos of Parisian cabaret performers from the 1920s, all of them sporting cigarettes.

<-- pp. 6-7

n/a:
"TELL ME ANOTHER"
J.B. White Ltd., Fife, [ca. 1930s].

A collection of cheeseball jokes about Scottish parsimony, accompanied by colour illustrations at once creepy and endearing.

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Penn, Herman J.:
ENCYCLOPEDIC GUIDE TO PLANNING AND ESTABLISHING AN AUDITORIUM, ARENA, COLISEUM OR MULTI-PURPOSE BUILDING
Penn-Fleming Publications, Greenville, SC, 1963.

Sometimes it pays to dream big.

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Dr. Willy, et al.:
THE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SEX
Reprint edition. Cadillac Publishing Co., New York, 1965.

Though intended for a general audience, this manual won't necessarily soothe the anxieties of the bashful.

<-- plates 10-11

Daniell, David Scott, & Jack Matthew [illus.]:
FLIGHT TWO: CANADA
Wills & Hepworth Ltd., Loughborough, UK, 1959.

Wholesome propaganda for kids of the Commonwealth, as cloying as a shotglass of pure maple syrup.

<-- pp. 14-15

Rorer, S.T.:
ICE CREAMS, WATER ICES, FROZEN PUDDINGS; TOGETHER WITH REFRESHMENTS FOR ALL SOCIAL AFFAIRS
Arnold & Company, Phildadelphia, 1913.

Not recommended for readers vulnerable to attacks of nostalgia on sultry summer evenings.

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Draper, James, and James Brooks:
INTERIOR DESIGN FOR LIBRARIES
American Library Association, Chicago, 1979.

With chapter titles well-suited for some of the world's most erotic public spaces: "Getting a Bird's Eye View," "Up Against the Wall," "Coming Out of the Closet," etc.

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Stalin, J[oseph] V.:
WORKS, VOLUME 1: 1901-1907
Red Star Press, London, 1975.

The early scribblings of a man better remembered for his actions than his ideas.

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n/a:
JUMPING OVER BOY'S BACK (LEAPFROG)
Optical Toys, Putney, VT, 1994.

Proto-cinema in the form of a tiny and artfully obscure flip-book; thumb required.

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Ekman, Paul, et al.:
EMOTION IN THE HUMAN FACE.
Pergamon Press, New York, 1972.

Useful for poker players and other professional psychologists.

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Haight, Anne Lyon:
BANNED BOOKS: INFORMAL NOTES ON SOME BOOKS BANNED FOR VARIOUS REASONS AT VARIOUS TIMES AND IN VARIOUS PLACES
1 of 1000 copies. R.R. Bowker, New York, 1935.

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" was banned in China's Hunan Province on the grounds that "Animals should not use human language..."

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n/a:
BRUSSELS WORLD EXHIBITION 1958: OFFICIAL GUIDE
Desclee & Co., Tournai, [1958].

The exhibition's Jetsonian centerpiece was a 100 meter tall structure (the "Atomium"), representing nine atoms of iron magnified 165 billion times.

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Tkachuk, Mary, et al.:
PYSANKA: ICON OF THE UNIVERSE
Ukrainian Museum, Saskatoon, 1977.

The sweet fragility of a decorated egg will warm the heart of even the most bruised cynic.

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Christy, Joe:
HOW TO BUY A USED AIRPLANE
2nd edition. TAB Books, Blue Ridge Summit, PA, 1979.

"Every time you fly you make a number of irrevocable decisions..."

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Austen, Howard, and Beverly Pepper:
THE MYRA BRECKINRIDGE COOKBOOK
Little Brown & Co, Boston, 1970.

Recipes à la drag queen -- "Breast of Capon," "Bearded Oysters," "Cod Pieces," etc.-- co-authored by Gore Vidal's boyfriend.

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Worcester, G.R. [and] Doris Worcester:
THE FLOATING POPULATION IN CHINA, AN ILLUSTRATED RECORD OF THE JUNKMEN AND THEIR BOATS [with] SOME CHUNGKING TYPES ON THE UPPER YANGTZE RIVER
Vetch and Lee Limited, Hong Kong, 1970.

The Hong Kong Beggar Boat, the Pig Boat of the Pearl River, the Flower Boat of Canton, the Coffin Boat...

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Hammett, Lorraine:
THE KNAUGHTY LOOK PRESENTS THE MAGIC OF SCARF FASHION
Hammett Enterprises, Scarborough, ON, 1983.

Wirebound to an A-frame cardboard stand, so you can refer to the instructions while tying your scarf with both hands.

<-- back cover

HOLLOW BOOK BOX
[date and manufacturer unknown]

A velvet-lined box disguised as a volume of the "Reader's Digest Condensed Books"; big enough to hold $3000 in twenties, or a small pistol.

<-- interior of box

Young, Richard S.:
EXTRATERRESTRIAL BIOLOGY
Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, New York, 1966.

Pretty much theoretical.

<-- front cover

Solomon, Ed:
SERVICE IS AN HONORABLE PROFESSION
McGarvey's Boat Drive-In Restaurant, Vermilion, OH, 1972.

The how and why of waitressing: "Could any profession be so interesting? And profitable?"

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Wershoven, F.J.:
LILIPUT DICTIONARY: ENGLISH-FRENCH [and] FRANCAIS-ANGLAIS
Schmidt & Gunther, Leipzig [ca. 1930s].

Cute as a button, and almost as small.

<-- spines in slipcase, with pencil for scale

Faull, Lesley:
MEAT ON THE MENU IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
Books of Africa, Cape Town, 1968.

A pocket with eight lurid meat postcards compensates somewhat for the regrettable absence of "bush meat" recipes in the text.

<-- rear endpapers, with postcards

Palombi, John:
"SEE YOU ON THE BLACKTOP!"
A&P Publishing, Rancho Cordova, CA, 1995.

An aggressive used-car sales philosophy is equally applicable to the secondhand book trade.

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Crandall, Lee S.:
THE MANAGEMENT OF WILD MAMMALS IN CAPTIVITY
University of Chicago Press, 1971.

When designing a menu for two-toed sloths, stick to kale and escarole; the fussy ones won't touch celery.

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Murray, W., and M. Aitchison (illus.):
BOOKS ARE EXCITING
Wills & Hepworth Ltd., Loughborough, 1967.

Confirms our suspicions.

<-- pp. 30-31

Runge, Senta Maria:
FACE LIFTING BY EXERCISE
Allegro Publishing, Los Angeles, 1972.

A previously unrecognized species of porn.

<-- p. 121

Peet, Louise Jenison, and Lenore Sater Thye:
HOUSEHOLD EQUIPMENT
Fourth Edition. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1957.

For the studious homemaker, a technical understanding of electric appliances fulfills a deeper need: "Equipment implies action..."

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[Ford Advanced Styling Studio]:
SEATTLE-ITE XXI
Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, MI, 1962.

400 h.p. concept car offers an alternative to petroleum: "Such a vehicle might be powered by fuel cells or a compact nuclear device."

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[Committee on Recording of the American Meat Institute]:
PORK OPERATIONS
Institute of Meat Packing, Chicago, 1954.

Shackle; stick; bleed; scald; dehair; dehead; open; eviscerate. (Gruesomer details available upon request.)

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Benda, W.T.:
MASKS
Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1944.

An eerie collection of theatrical masks with names like "The Miser," "Nincompoop," and "Lady Disdain."

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n/a:
WELCOME TO MADURODAM!
The Hague, [ca. 1960s].

Guide to a pathologically detailed, and unbearably twee, scale replica of a Dutch village. In English, with handy folding map laid in.

<-- front cover

Mitchell, Richard Scott:
MINERAL NAMES: WHAT DO THEY MEAN?
Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1979.

In the mineral world, "samsonite" is not luggage, "priderite" is not a deadly sin, and "cummingtonite" is not a promise.

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McCully, Helen:
THE FRENCH HAVE A WORD FOR IT: MAYONNAISE
Hellmans/Best Foods, New York, 1967.

In English, we know it as "that shining golden ointment."

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Palmieri, Mario:
THE PHILOSOPHY OF FASCISM
Dante Alighieri Society, Chicago, 1936.

Brazen Italian propaganda promoting a now-discredited political ideology: braggadocio deflated by history.

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n/a:
THE HORN BOOK: A GIRL'S GUIDE TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL
[n.p.; pirate reprint of the 1923 London edition].

63 coital postures ("The Saint-George," "The Stork," "The Sack of Corn," etc.) in quaint and utterly raunchy detail.

<-- title page

Bailey, Oscar, and Charles Swedlund:
FOUND OBJECTS: MID-CENTURY GENRE
State University College at Buffalo, 1965.

An exhibition of rusty detritus exerting its hypnotic charm.

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Flugel, J.C.:
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CLOTHES
Fourth printing. Hogarth Press, London, 1966.

Tell me, professor: what does a prominent red necktie represent?

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Ali, Shahrazad:
THE BLACKMAN'S GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING THE BLACKWOMAN
Civilized Publications, Philadelphia, 1989.

We also sometimes get requests for "The Bookman's Guide to Understanding the Bookwoman."

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[Council on Economic Priorities]:
EFFICIENCY IN DEATH: THE MANUFACTURERS OF ANTI-PERSONNEL WEAPONS
Perennial Library, New York, 1970.

Just plain sinister: a sort of chamber-of-commerce directory to the land mine/cluster bomb industry.

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n/a:
SECRETARY'S DESK BOOK
Parker Publishing, West Nyack, N.Y., 1975.

For a smart look in any air-conditioned office, try a demure pink dustjacket.

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Howard, Len:
BIRDS AS INDIVIDUALS
Doubleday & Co., Garden City, NY, 1953.

With the songs of various species (warblers, blackbirds, titmice, etc.) rendered in musical notation.

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Kira, Alexander:
THE BATHROOM
Viking Press, New York, 1976.

A serious ergonomic design study, and the only place you'll ever find a photographic analysis of human urine-stream trajectories.

<-- front cover

n/a:
NARCOTIC DRUGS UNDER INTERNATIONAL CONTROL: MULTILINGUAL LIST
United Nations, Geneva, 1963.

For those occasions when you need to say "morphine sulfate" in Finnish, Arabic, or Korean.

<-- front cover

Davis, Jon (illus.):
TOOLS IN THE KITCHEN
Ginn & Co., London, 1974.

With many provocative illustrations of an affectless, aproned housewife wielding an apple corer, rolling pin, scissors, meat grinder...

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Milgram, Stanley, and R. Lance Shotland:
TELEVISION AND ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOR: FIELD EXPERIMENTS
Academic Press, New York, 1973.

Good news: one extra-violent episode of a prime-time melodrama won't turn you into a sociopath!

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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.

<-- front cover

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