"The Parallel Library" in retrospect:

An off-site exhibition of printed artifacts,
hosted by the Monkey's Paw.

"The Parallel Library" was installed in a gallery space at 1080 Queen St. West, Toronto, during the last two weeks of June, 2011.

For those who were unable to visit the exhibition, we offer the following highlights, photographed in situ:



Rombauer, Irma S.:
COOKBOOK FOR BOYS AND GIRLS
Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis, 1946.

Indelible snapshot of a book in use: This copy of a children's cookbook (by the celebrated author of "The Joy of Cooking") was apparently blackened by a kitchen grease fire while laid open to a recipe for broiled steaks.




Steuart, D.L.:
CARP: HOW TO CATCH THEM
Herbert Jenkins, London, 1955.

When the activity in question is the leisurely pursuit of a credulous fish, a modest book is both appropriate and sufficient. (Effective baits are stale bread and boiled potatoes.)







Hough, Walter:
FIRE AS AN AGENT IN HUMAN CULTURE
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1926.

Now THAT'S scholarship: apparently contains every known fact about our species' use of fire, worldwide and throughout history. Also includes many illustrations of stoves, lamps, fire-making apparatus, etc.







Heuvelmans, Bernard:
ON THE TRACK OF UNKNOWN ANIMALS
Second Edition. Rupert Hart-Davis, London, 1962.

The foundational text of cryptozoology: an elusive work, almost as hard-to-find as the yetis, sea serpents, and living fossils that fill its pages.






n/a:
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY: ITS ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT AS REFLECTED IN ITS OFFICIAL WEEKLY NEWSPAPER, "THE BLACK PANTHER BLACK COMMUNITY NEWS SERVICE"
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1970.

A seemingly well-informed academic told us that much of the violently subversive content attributed to the Panthers in this report was actually created by the FBI.






n/a:
A NEW POPULAR STAR ATLAS (EPOCH 1950)
Gall and Inglis, Edinburgh, [ca. 1950].

Lie on your back and hold this book open at arms' length. Is that what the night sky looked like before ubiquitous light pollution?




Royce, Hans; Thomas Abeking (design):
GERMANY AT A GLANCE
German-American Trade Promotion Co., Frankfurt, [ca. 1952].

This elaborate production includes an icon-based thumb-tab index to 15 different industries, and the most complicated sequence of transparency overlays we've ever laid eyes on.







Cook, Terry; Jim Williams (phot.):
VANS AND THE TRUCKIN’ LIFE
Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1977.

It’s like they squeezed the 1970s, and extracted a single oily drop of distilled lifestyle essence.








Haskell, P.T:
INSECT SOUNDS
Quadrangle Books, Chicago, 1961.

A romantic summer evening in a country meadow: audiospectrograms, oscillograms, diagrams of stridulatory ridges, etc.







Clay, Alice (ed.):
THE AGONY COLUMN OF “THE TIMES,” 1800-1870
Chatto & Windus, London, 1881.

200 years before text messages, lovers and conspirators used to communicate via newspaper personal ads. Here are over 1700 examples, in various languages and private codes: the raw material of human melodrama, stripped of all context.





n/a:
CHINESE WOMEN IN THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD
Foreign Languages Press, Peking, 1960.

The folksy Maoist cover design is disarming... but ultimately an ideological paradise based on cooperative industrial productivity might fail to impress certain decadent Western gals.







Bednar, Kamil:
PUPPETS AND FAIRY TALES
SNTL Publishers of Technical Literature, Prague, 1958.

From deep in the heart of Europe, unadulterated white people’s culture takes the form of puppet animations: hopelessly dorky, yet weirdly beautiful, and inexplicably moving.




Willy, A., et al.:
THE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SEX
Cadillac Publishing Co., New York, 1949.

The numerous illustrations emphasize the eerie, sci-fi aspect of sexual biology -- probably not the best choice for calming the nerves of bashful or inexperienced readers.




Laury, Jean Ray, and Joyce Aiken:
THE PANTYHOSE CRAFT BOOK
Taplinger Publishing Co., New York, 1978.

Handicrafts formed from discarded hosiery are soft, colourful, and uniquely macabre -- particularly the boneless, full-sized-human doll called “Sister” by its creator. (“Sister is a good listener and a steady companion.”)






Hodges, Charles Du Bois:
IN SEARCH OF YOUNG BEAUTY
A.S. Barnes & Co., New York, 1968.

The most unsettling thing about this guide to photographing underage models is that the blandly cheerful author seems to have no awareness of how predatory his whole project looks. Creeeepy!





Baker, Geoffrey, and Bruno Funaro:
MOTELS [REINHOLD PROGRESSIVE ARCHITECTURE LIBRARY]
Reinhold Publishing, New York, 1955.

Arguably the single most representative printed document of the American 20th century. Includes marketing and design strategies, blueprints, and hundreds of agonizingly nostalgia-inducing photos.








Runham, N.W., and P.J. Hunter:
TERRESTRIAL SLUGS
Hutchinson University Library, London, 1970.

Who knew that a person could spend 25 years digging through old bookshops, and find only one really substantive book on slugs?







Grant, Jack:
SKATEBOARDING
Celestial Arts, Millbrae, CA, 1976.

To California skate-culture, this is like the caves at Lascaux; it predates “Thrasher” magazine by five years, and includes early photos of skateboard tricks that later came to be known as slides, ollies, etc.






n/a:
...INTERNATIONAL STATISTICAL CLASSIFICATION OF DISEASES, INJURIES, AND CAUSES OF DEATH
World Health Organization, Geneva, 1948.

The list is comprehensive, and your fate is printed here somewhere; just point a finger at a random page. Intracranial haemorrhage? Accidental poisoning by industrial solvents? Therapeutic misadventure?






Johnston, LaVaughn C.:
OPEN MOUTH DOLLS
[Self-published], Downey, CA, 1974.

You think you’re hardened; you think you’ve seen it all. Then, beneath a pile of craft magazines, you discover this.








Deneke, Walther:
GÖTZ VON BERLICHINGEN: WIE SAG’ ICH’S NUR?
Karl Josef Sander Verlag, Magdeburg, 1941.

The elegant German expression “Leck mich am Arsch” (literally,“Lick my ass”) was originally attributed to a one-armed 16th-century knight named Götz von Berlichingen.This Nazi-era pamphlet offers translation of the phrase into 44 languages.





[Coulson, Debora?]:
[FIGURE SKATING SCRAPBOOK]
[Toronto? ca. 1930].

What makes this scrapbook so poignant? Is it the obsession with costumed girls on skates, or the fact that all the images are tipped-in with linen ring-reinforcers?




Fairbairn, W.E.; “Hary” (illus.):
GET TOUGH! HOW TO WIN IN HAND-TO-HAND FIGHTING
Appleton-Century Co., New York, 1942.

These combat techniques, designed for commandos in desperate situations, are nothing less than savage. But the illustrations, in their childlike simplicity, introduce an uncomfortable sense of ambiguity.




n/a:
GYMNASTICS AND TUMBLING
U.S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, MD, 1944.

With 862 numbered photos, this handbook wins the Quantity Prize for images of physically fit men in exercise costumes.





Timbs, John:
STORIES OF INVENTORS AND DISCOVERERS IN SCIENCE AND THE USEFUL ARTS
Harper & Brothers, New York, 1860.

With chapters on flying machines, automata, stereoscopy, and many other Victorian technologies, all of which pale beside an exceptionally uncommon two-page engraving of Charles Babbage’s “Difference Engine.”






n/a:
1958 DE SOTO... EVERYTHING ABOUT IT SAYS TOMORROW
Chrysler Canada, Windsor, [1957].
In advertising, size does matter. The car itself was over 18 feet long, and the creators of this resource-intensive brochure must be credited for equivalent bravado and breadth of vision.





Hering, Daniel Webster, et al.:
TIME AND ITS MYSTERIES. SERIES II
New York University Press, 1940.

Could this be the finest book-object ever designed? Its earnest grace perfectly matches the grandiose subject matter.

Jackson, Holbrook:
THE ANATOMY OF BIBLIOMANIA.
Farrar, Strauss & Co., New York, 1950.

To savor, stroke, and covet this book… well it's like a dog chasing its own tail.

<-- front cover

Brusse, Jan; Daniel Frasnay (phot.):
NIGHTS IN PARIS
André Deutsch, London, 1958.

With 112 photos of Parisian night-fauna (showgirls, jazz musicians, aristocrats, winos, etc.), captured in stark black and white; beside which regular diurnal life looks quite colorless.

<-- front cover

Wood-Allen, Mary:
WHAT A YOUNG GIRL OUGHT TO KNOW
Vir Publishing Co., Philadelphia, 1905.

"…will save her from ignorance, enable her to avoid vice, and deliver her from solitary and social sins."

<-- frontis and title page

Alth, Max and Charlotte:
MAKING PLASTIC PIPE FURNITURE
Everest House, New York, 1981.

Home-built from PVC plumbing pipe, a lounge chair offers meditative repose; a saucy love seat promises intimacy; and a bookcase really dresses up your paperbacks.

<-- front cover

n/a:
WE LAND ON THE MOON COLORING BOOK
Solar Communications, Island Park, NY, 1969.

One especially pleasing panel, depicting the effects of zero gravity, shows an astronaut pursuing floating french fries and cheese cubes around the cabin of his ship.

<-- front cover

Hellmuth, Nicholas M.:
PRE-COLUMBIAN BALLGAME: ARCHAEOLOGY AND ARCHITECTURE
Foundation for Latin American Anthropological Research, Guatemala City, 1975.

"Stone stelae at Cotzumalhuapa show victorious players triumphantly carrying the newly severed heads of their unfortunate opponents." Includes a very thorough bibliography.

<-- front cover

Nicholson, Howard:
NICHOLSON ON FIGURE SKATING
John Lane / Bodley Head, London, 1933.

With several dozen curious illustrations, which at first glance look like austere portraits of micro-organisms undergoing cellular division (turns out they're diagrams of various figure-eight and triple-loop maneuvers).

<-- front cover

Lee, Jimmy:
SOUL FOOD COOKBOOK
Award Books, New York, 1970.

Pink Mayonnaise, Pig's Brawn, Roasted Woodchuck, etc.

<-- front cover

Walker, Stella (comp.):
ENAMOURED OF AN ASS: A DONKEY ANTHOLOGY
Angus & Robertson, London, 1977.

This miscellany of reminiscences, trivia, poetry, etc., on the subject of Equus asinus is so infectiously optimistic that it caused one 21st century city-slicker to seriously fantasize about putting a donkey-stall in his garage.

<-- front cover

Reif, Rita; Duane Michals et al. (phot.):
LIVING WITH BOOKS: 118 DESIGNS FOR HOMES AND OFFICES
Quadrangle/New York Times Book Co., New York, 1968.

A nostalgic reminder of how much physical space was devoted to bound paper during the Age of Print, with over 100 photos of packed bookshelves in actual bedrooms, dens, hallways, etc.

<-- back cover

[British Medical Association's Board of Science and Education]
THE MEDICAL EFFECTS OF NUCLEAR WAR
John Wiley & Sons, Chichester (UK), 1983.

If you want to hear a dire prognosis, ask a panel of doctors about the prospects of providing medical care for tens of millions of burned and irradiated victims in the aftermath of a large-scale nuclear attack.

<-- front cover

Crocker, Denton W., and David W. Barr:
HANDBOOK OF THE CRAYFISHES OF ONTARIO
University of Toronto Press, 1968.

"In crayfishes, there are 18 true segments plus a presegmental portion at the anterior end and a postsegmental portion at the posterior end."

<-- front cover

n/a:
MANUAL ON UNIFORM TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES FOR STREETS AND HIGHWAYS.
U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, 1971.

Official graphic standards for signage in the automotive landscape: a potent fetish object for Ballardite design junkies. With colour illustrations throughout.

<-- front cover

Peterson, Wm. O. (ed.):
MASONIC QUIZ BOOK: "ASK ME ANOTHER, BROTHER"
Charles T. Powner Co., Chicago, 1960.

"What is a Broached Thurnel?" "Who is the Principal Sojourner?" "What is the length of your 'Cable Tow'?" "What is the source of the term 'Riding the goat?'" ...etc.

<-- front cover

Douglas, Helen (comp.):
THE SILVER CROSS, A COLLECTION OF POEMS AND HYMNS FOR THE SICK AND SUFFERING
George Bell & Sons, London, 1908.

Uniquely depressing verse on Christian resignation in extremis: titles include "Pain," "Weariness," "Enough," "Wishes about Death," etc.

<-- front cover

Austin, Alma H.:
THE ROMANCE OF CANDY
Harper & Brothers, New York, 1938.

From tropical raw materials to Main St. merchandising, a forgivably tolerant overview of the industry responsible for creating the world's easiest-to-like substances. With over 50 photos.

<-- photos 28 to 33 ("Making Peanut Crisp," etc.)

Clark, George H., and James Fletcher:
FARM WEEDS OF CANADA
Dominion of Canada Dept. of Agriculture, Ottawa, 1923.

It's sweet, and somehow chivalrous, that a couple of agricultural bureaucrats would produce such a lovely book about plants they despise so adamantly. With 76 very pretty colour plates.

<-- page 120 & plate 44: Field Bindweed

Fogarty, Ann:
WIFE-DRESSING
Julian Messner, Inc., New York, 1959.

Costume advice for married narcissists with big closets: for a 10-day Florida vacation, the author (herself a fashion designer) recommends packing 18 dresses and 20 pairs of shoes.

<-- front cover

Dutton, June and Edith Vanocur:
THE BOOZE BOOK.
Determined Productions, San Francisco, 1967.

It was the Summer of Love for middle-class alcoholics, too. Here are recipes for mai tais, daiquiris, sangria, etc., illustrated with cheerful caricatures in supersaturated pop colors.

<-- front cover

Johnson, Margaret Fullerton, and Dorothy E. Cook:
MANUAL OF CATALOGING AND CLASSIFICATION FOR SMALL SCHOOL AND PUBLIC LIBRARIES
H.W. Wilson Co., New York, 1950.

Highly concentrated bibliographic pathos: a guide to card catalogue management, discarded by a school library without a single checkout recorded on its "Date Due" card.

<-- front cover

"Zeta" [Zachary Cope]:
THE DIAGNOSIS OF THE ACUTE ABDOMEN IN RHYME
H.K. Lewis & Co., London, 1949.

Rarely is the dissonance between form and function so jarring, even scandalous, as in this collection of perky doggerel describing life-threatening abdominal afflictions.

<-- front cover

Herdeg, Walter:
SCHWEIZER SIGNETE / TRADE MARKS AND SYMBOLS
Graphis Press, Zurich, 1948.

A work of such haughty elegance that no one would dare call it vanity publishing -- even though a single highly-motivated Swiss designer was its publisher, editor, and primary contributor. Text in German and English.

<-- pp. 64-65

Sullivan, Jim, and Lori Calicott:
BREAK DANCING: STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
Publications International, Skokie, IL, 1984.

Be sure to read the fine print: "The moves in this book have been explained and demonstrated by experienced dancers. Breaking moves should not be attempted without the assistance of an instructor."

<-- front cover

Ketley, A.J.:
TEXTBOOK OF IRONMONGERY AND HARDWARE
National Institute of Hardware, Birmingham, [1949].

A guide so comprehensive that an enterprising archaeologist could reconstruct the entire metal-based material culture of the 20th century from the contents of this one book.

<-- front cover

Dahinden, Justus; Gerald Onn (trans.):
URBAN STRUCTURES FOR THE FUTURE.
Praeger Publishers, New York, 1972.

The architectural utopia of tomorrowland, vividly imagined but in most cases never built: domed habitats; plug-in cities; modular polyester pods; pneumatic clusters; artificial floating islands; etc. Thoroughly illustrated.

<-- front cover

Farnham, Albert B.:
HOME MANUFACTURE OF FURS AND SKINS
A.R. Harding, Columbus, OH, 1944.

All the ghoulish aspects of tanning and dressing animal hides, plus helpful advice on marketing the finished product.

<-- front cover

MacBeth, George:
PENGUIN BOOK OF SICK VERSE
Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, 1963.

Morbid obsessions, visions of despair, extravagant emotion, perverted action, sick jokes, and nightmares: an editorial conceit so compelling that the uneven quality of the anthologized poetry hardly matters.

<-- front cover

Hamilton, Alice:
MANITOBAN STAINED GLASS
University of Winnipeg Press, 1970.

The pious light of the northern prairies, filtering into a church or synagogue through multicoloured windows... it makes you feel kinda wistful, doesn't it?

<-- p. 209, "Boy Scout"

Richardson, W.T.:
HISTORIC PULASKI, BIRTHPLACE OF THE KU KLUX KLAN [etc.]
[Self-published, Lynnville, TN], 1913.

Uncommonly sinister: an unapologetic history of the Klan, published by its founding members in one of the most fanatical corners of the former Confederacy. Includes facsimile of the Klan's "cipher code," used for conspiratorial correspondence.

<-- copyright page & frontis photo

Heline, Corinne:
ESOTERIC MUSIC BASED ON THE MUSICAL SEERSHIP OF RICHARD WAGNER
New Age Press, Los Angeles, 1953.

Oh, that explains it. "Wagner was an emissary sent to earth from the great inner-plane Temple of Music. In that exalted center of learning, musical Initiates acquire sensitivity to hear the music of the spheres."

<-- front cover

n/a:
LEVI'S DENIM ART CONTEST: CATALOGUE OF WINNERS
Baron Wolman/Squarebooks, Mill Valley, CA, 1974.

Eye-popping '70s freak culture on parade: 50 prize-winning examples of embellished-denim folk fashion (appliqué, embroidery, patchwork, rivets, etc.), in many cases modeled by the contestants themselves.

<-- front cover

n/a:
THE WORK
Lautir Press, Toronto, [ca. 1954].

A vest-pocket guide to Masonic rituals, with the directions cryptically abbreviated to perplex outsiders: "S.D. steps up and gives S.W. (in a whisper) the P.W. of a F.C. with the P.G."

<-- pp. 130-131

Homsy, Martha, and Doris Keppeler:
THE HULA: THE DANCE AND ITS MEANING
Tongg Publishing, Honolulu, 1950.

As gently erotic as a balmy, hibiscus-scented breeze rustling a grass skirt. Illustrated with many sequential photos of dancers in action -- enchanting of course.

<-- front cover

Davies, D.P.:
HANDLING THE BIG JETS
Air Registration Board, Redhill, Surrey, 1968.

"The demand of jet transport flying can best be met by enthusiasm." Illustrated with 80 dynamic colour graphs and a dozen photographic plates.

<-- front cover

Haikonen, Atte (ed.):
MUNICIPAL COATS OF ARMS OF FINLAND
Suomen Kunnallisliitto, Helsinki, [1976].

An obsessive, even pathological, collection of heraldic escutcheons, representing 570 towns and provinces in one of the world's most thinly populated countries. Text in Finnish, Swedish, and English.

<-- pp. 86-87 [Parikkala to Pihlajavesi]

Wall, Florence E.:
CANITICS: THE TREATMENT OF CANITIES REDUCED TO A SCIENCE, ELEVATED TO AN ART
Beautician Publications Inc., New York, 1926.

Like a bad dye job, this beauty-parlor manual hides behind ominous scientific-sounding language to describe the latest techniques for tinting gray hair.

<-- front cover

Bailey, Wellesley C.:
THE LEPERS OF OUR INDIAN EMPIRE: A VISIT TO THEM IN 1890-91.
Darien Press, Edinburgh, 1899.

The white man's burden, dutifully shouldered by missionaries at leper colonies throughout the subcontinent; with descriptions of morbidly disfigured natives pleading for divine mercy.

<-- front cover

Traylor, Joseph G.:
PHYSICS OF STEREO/QUAD SOUND
Iowa State University, Ames, 1977.

For the insatiable geek audiophile who demands the deepest possible involvement with this subject, each chapter concludes with a set of questions and exercises.

<-- front cover

Gold, Frances Joslin:
THE INSTANT DECORATOR
Clarkson N. Potter, New York, 1976

A spiral-bound tool for decorators: large-scale line drawings of 16 typical room layouts, with transparency overlays for testing combinations of fabrics, wallpapers, or colour swatches.

<-- front cover (detail)

Romans, John R. and P. Thomas Ziegler:
THE MEAT WE EAT
Interstate Printers & Publishers, Danville, IL, 1977.

Covers every aspect of the meat economy, from pasture to plate: slaughtering practices; packing-house by-products; inspection and grading; preservation and storage; merchandising; organizations that promote meat; etc.

<-- front cover