Westfall, Minter J., and Michael L. May:
DAMSELFLIES OF NORTH AMERICA
Scientific Publishers, Gainesville, FL, 1996.

Why theorize about angels dancing on the heads of pins, when you can examine and compare the genital anatomy of dainty aquatic insects for 600 pages?

<-- front cover

Atwater, Constance:
TAP DANCING TECHNIQUES, ROUTINES, TERMINOLOGY
Charles E. Tuttle Co., Rutland, VT, 1973.

Includes two dozen photos of cheerful children performing Scoot Backs, Toe Points, Doll Hops, Coffee Grinders, etc.

<-- front cover

Parsons, Lydia Mary:
MRS. PARSONS' MANUAL FOR WOMEN'S MEETINGS
Macmillan Company of Canada, Toronto, 1918.

Rules of parliamentary procedure for suffragettes; with a glossary of sophisticated-sounding phrases in Latin and French.

<-- front cover

Florman, Monte:
TESTING: BEHIND THE SCENES AT CONSUMER REPORTS 1936-1986
Consumers Union, Mt. Vernon, NY, 1986.

Enthralling documentation of mid-century consumer tests conducted on lipsticks, lawn sprinklers, ballpoint pens, instant coffees, linoleum tiles, frozen fish fillets...

<-- front cover

Cobb, Ivo Geikie:
THE GLANDS OF DESTINY
Wm. Heinemann (Medical Books), London, 1936.

The mysterious thyroid, the commanding pituitary, the urgent adrenals, the cherished gonads: apparently their secretions have determined the course of human history.

<-- front cover

Armstrong, Charles:
CUSACK'S MODEL DRAWING
City of London Book Depôt, [1893].

"Examples of faulty drawings are given, but lest beginners in casually glancing through the diagrams should mistake them, they are carefully branded WRONG."

<-- "What to Avoid in Drawing the Square Plinth"

Kneass, Jack:
HOW TO BUY RECREATIONAL VEHICLES
Trail-R-Club of America, Beverly Hills, 1969.

The author's previous work -- a series on California's taxation of trailers and mobile homes -- was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

<-- front cover

[yearbook]:
RUBICON '69
St. Michael's School of Nursing, Toronto, [1969].

Like flocks of angels: one hundred oval portraits of student nurses, floating in formations of perfect symmetry.

<-- "Graduates"

Yankowski, John S., and Hermann K. Wolff:
THE TORTURED SEX
Holloway House Publishing, Los Angeles, 1965.

"The man who engages in homosexual acts may be a mental, moral, and/or psychological cripple..."

<-- front cover

n/a:
SOLVENTS AND PLASTICISERS FOR THE LACQUER, ARTIFICIAL LEATHER AND RELATED INDUSTRIES
J.M. Steel & Co. Ltd., London, [ca. 1938].

Concludes with a very seductive suite of industrial photos, entitled "Apparatus Used in Testing, Making and Using Lacquers."

<-- "Can-Stirring Apparatus"

Baker, G. Cornelius:
INDOOR GAMES AND SOCIALS FOR BOYS
Association Press, New York, 1923.

Wholesome activities for Christian youth: Rooster Fight, Potato Joust, Hottentot Tackle, Skin the Snake...

<-- front cover

n/a:
CATALOGUE OFFICIEL DES PIECES DE RHABILLAGE POUR MONTRES SUISSES [Official Catalogue of Swiss Watch Repair Parts]
Les Fabricants Suisses d'Horlogerie, Bienne, 1955.

When a bookseller turns 45, he owes himself a gift that celebrates the transient beauty of time.

<-- section divider, "Chronographes et Compteurs"

Bagneris, G.:
ELEMENTS OF SYLVICULTURE
William Rider & Son, London, 1882.

"... the whole body of observed facts which relate to forest vegetation, arranged and combined into a system in so far as they apply to the treatment of forests."

<-- front cover

Blake, Dick:
DISCOTHEQUE DANCES
World Publishing Co., Cleveland, 1965.

Illustrated instructions for steps like the Hitch-Hiker, the Mashed Potatoes, and the Camel Walk; plus photos of Phyllis Diller doing the Temper Tantrum.

<-- front cover

Cheskin, Louis:
COLORS: WHAT THEY CAN DO FOR YOU
Liveright Publishing, New York, 1948.

"Because of ignorance of the nature of color, we have much avoidable discomfort in the home, unnecessary irritability, emotional instability, considerable loss in industrial production..."

<-- front cover

n/a:
THE BEAVER AND THE MUSKRAT
Ginn and Company, Toronto, [ca. 1940s]

In this school reader, the exploitation of natural resources is a noble pursuit, engaged in by noble Indians, noble fur traders... and even noble rodents.

<-- front cover

Reich, Edward, and Carlton John Siegler:
CONSUMER GOODS: HOW TO KNOW AND USE THEM
American Book Company, New York, 1937.

In late-stage capitalism, the highly informed shopper is a moral equal to the scholar or the priest.

<-- frontispiece

n/a:
WELCOME ABOARD AMERICAN ASTROJET
American Airlines, [n.p.], 1961.

This in-flight brochure for the jet set addresses pressing concerns ranging from the efficiency of fan-jet engines to the physical dimensions of stewardesses.

<-- front cover

Allen, Ellen Gordon:
JAPANESE FLOWER ARRANGEMENT IN A NUTSHELL
Charles E. Tuttle, Rutland, VT, 1961.

Don't let yourself be duped like we were -- you're actually supposed to arrange the flowers in a vase or bowl.

<-- front cover

Storm, Wayne:
INTERNATIONAL MONEY POWER BEHIND WORLD REVOLUTION
Storm Publishing, Shreveport, LA, 1966.

Why are the illustrations in anti-Semitic conspiracy literature always rendered so ineptly? Does pathological paranoia interfere with a person's ability to draw?

<-- front cover

Chevalier, Denys:
CAR STRIPTIZA
Slavko Krušnik, Ljubljana, 1971.

Titillating, pretentious, opaque: the Slovenian edition of a French photo-illustrated study of strippers (original title: "Métaphysique du Strip-Tease").

<-- frontis & title page

Smith, James Reuel:
SPRINGS AND WELLS OF MANHATTAN AND THE BRONX [etc.]
New-York Historical Socity, 1938.

Another laudable obsession: from 1898 to 1901, the author bicycled all over New York City to measure and photograph its surviving mineral springs and wells.

<-- plates 2A & 2B [Upper West Side]

Hartmann, Newton H. (phot.):
QUEER BIRDS
Edward Stern & Co., Philadelphia, 1934.

"Not all of Mother Nature's children are graceful and good-looking, as most of these photographs prove."

<-- front cover

Brown, Adolph M.:
MODERN PLASTIC SURGICAL PROSTHETICS
Grune & Stratton, New York, 1947.

The dreadful intersection of pathos and revulsion, thoroughly illustrated.

<-- Figure 24, "Prosthesis Being Applied"

Supf, Peter:
DER LUFTKRIEG IN POLEN ["The Air War in Poland"]
Junker und Dünnhaupt, Berlin, 1941.

Over 180 photos of heroic Nazi airmen defending the fatherland in 1939 by bombing the crap out of those menacing, militaristic Poles. Text in German.

<-- frontis and title page

Grumme, Grete:
DANISH FOOD
Chr. Erichsen's Forlag, Copenhagen, 1964.

Creamed liverpaste, pale meat jelly, spiced lard... and that's just the chapter on "Dishes for a Danish Cold Table."

<-- front cover

Zimmerschied, Gerd:
NATURAL STONE AS AN ELEMENT IN DESIGN
Standard Catalogue Co., London, 1961.

The hypnotic geometry of stonemasonry, as revealed in some 400 closeup photos of walls, chimneys, garden paths, etc., from around the world.

<-- front cover

Tapson, Frank:
TAKE TWO!
Pantheon Books, [New York], 1977.

Parlor fun on the cheap: 32 different game boards in a single spiral-bound album. (You supply the buttons or coins for counters.)

<-- front cover

n/a:
THE SECRET MUSEUM OF MANKIND
Manhattan House, New York, [ca. 1935].

Gawking at "the Other": over 700 anthropological photos of semi-naked natives, gloomy peasants, and bearded tribesmen, with only the briefest of captions for context.

<-- frontis and title page

Zaffo, George J.:
YOUR POLICE
Garden City Books, New York, 1956.

Only rarely does pro-cop propaganda achieve a state of grace through sheer beauty and elegance of design.

<-- front cover

Kyei, Kojo Gyinaye; Hannah Schreckenbach (phot.):
NO TIME TO DIE
Catholic Press, Accra, Ghana, 1986.

Poems inspired by the personalized slogans painted on Ghanaian "mammy lorries" (i.e., jitney buses); with many photos of the fanciful vehicles themselves.

<-- front cover

Ellis, Edward S. (ed.)
1000 MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS BRIEFLY DESCRIBED
Hinds & Noble, New York, 1899

A handsome and compact book; but as far as the content is concerned, this looks like a case of quantity over quality.

<-- front cover

Heppenheimer, T.A.:
COLONIES IN SPACE
Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA, 1977.

"It is possible that space colonization will become a generic subject, like Ecology or Women's Lib, which everyone knows something about and has an opinion on."

<-- front cover

Fowler, Murray E.:
RESTRAINT AND HANDLING OF WILD AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS
Iowa State University Press, Ames, 1981.

The grittiest and most intimate expressions of mankind's mastery over animals: nets, nooses, cages, anesthetics...

<-- p. 186, "Marsupials"

Gardiner, Catherine:
DOGS, AN ATLAS OF THE MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM
Canine Consultants Publishing, Milton, ON, 1974.

Includes 13 enormous color transparency overlays of dog anatomy, and a set of portable dog-measuring instruments in a separate vinyl pouch.

<-- "Skeletal System" (detail) with dog-measuring rod

Gulick, Sydney L.:
EVOLUTION OF THE JAPANESE: SOCIAL AND PSYCHIC
Fleming H. Revell Co., New York, 1903.

Tolerant author concludes that the exotic Japanese race is actually capable of abstract thought, moral judgement, and aesthetic refinement.

<-- front cover

Hawks, Ellison:
THE ROMANCE OF TRANSPORT
George G. Harrap, London, 1935.

The colorful history of getting from A to B -- whether by camel, horse-drawn omnibus, steam carriage, motorcycle, Zeppelin...

<-- frontis and title page

Knowles, Christopher:
TYPINGS (1974-1977)
Vehicle Editions, New York, 1979.

Artistry? Insanity? Exploitation? Eccentric pages from an autistic poet who was "discovered" by avant-garde theater director Robert Wilson.

<-- "Rock the Boat"

n/a:
INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL GUIDE FOR SHIPS
World Health Organization, Geneva, 1967.

In over 400 pages of text, only two paragraphs are devoted to seasickness: "The condition is so well known that a description is not necessary."

<-- front cover

Cornell, James, and John Surowiecki (eds.):
PULSE OF THE PLANET: A STATE OF THE EARTH REPORT FROM THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION CENTER FOR SHORT-LIVED PHENOMENA
Harmony Books, New York, 1972.

A dizzying digest of earthquakes, meteorites, whale beachings, forest fires, volcanoes, algal blooms, landslides, caterpillar infestations, oil spills, tsunamis...

<-- front cover

Petersham, Maud and Miska:
THE STORY BOOK OF OIL
John C. Winston Co., Philadelphia, 1935.

Have you heard the news? "Now, if the supply of oil were cut off, our manner of living would change completely until something to take its place was found."

<-- front cover

n/a:
HOW TO MAKE A VENETIAN BLIND
[no place or date; ca. 1950].

Formerly a book, now a hollowed-out novelty "book box," done up as an aggressive visual pun. (The knocked-out "eyes" are painted coffee beans.)

<-- interior of box, with eyes

Auld, William:
ESPERANTO, A NEW APPROACH
Heroldo de Esperanto, Brussels, 1969.

"If one cannot immediately find an experienced Esperantist to give advice on pronunciation, there are gramophone records available..."

<-- front cover

Röttger, Ernst:
CREATIVE WOOD DESIGN [Creative Play Series 2]
Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1960.

Certain vulnerable aesthetes, when exposed to earthy Nordic handicrafts, experience an excruciating sense of admiration and longing.

<-- front cover

Koschmann, Gale:
TURTLE-LORE FROM EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK AND SOUTHERN FLORIDA
Everglades Natural History Assoc., Homestead, FL, 1965.

A book perfectly matched to its subject: humble, yet intriguing.

<-- front cover

Harrison, Bob:
NAKED NEW YORK
Paragon Associates, New York, 1961.

Master class in sensationalism: "Here are the swindlers and the swells, the babes who scheme and the pimps who outsmart them -- all conning their way in the greatest shell game on earth."

<-- front cover

n/a:
GÖPPINGER LEINEN
Göppinger Kaliko -und Kunstleder-Werke, [ca. 1960].

Sublime tactile object for the bibliophile: a catalogue of elegant bookbinding fabrics, with 56 swatches and 14 actual book covers tipped in. Text in German.

<-- front cover

Statler, David:
ROARING GUNS
Simon and Schuster, New York, 1938.

The oddest thing about this violent Western (written and illustrated by an 8-year-old, with original misspellings left intact) is that it was ever published at all.

-- front cover

Tart, Charles T. (ed.):
ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1969.

In addition to dreams, meditation, hypnosis, and psychedelic drugs, this collection examines the "hypnogogic state" -- that mysterious twilight between waking and sleeping.

<-- front cover

Gay, Jan:
ON GOING NAKED
Garden City Publishing, Garden City, NY, 1932.

"The author has for years taken pleasure in going without clothes." Naturally, her book is illustrated with dozens of photos of frolicking nudists.

<-- front cover