Gummerus, H.O. (ed.):
VISION
Finnish Society of Crafts & Design, [Helsinki, 1966].

When Finnish designers reflect on Finnish design, the result is as serene as a dark lake in a spruce forest.

<-- interior spread (unpaginated)

Meibomius, John Henry:
A TREATISE ON THE USE OF FLOGGING IN MEDICINE AND VENERY
1/500 copies. Isidore Liseux, Paris, 1898.

Apparently a vigorous whipping on the backside sends a glut of overheated blood to the testicles... with predictably bestial consequences.

<-- title page

Turnill, Reginald:
THE OBSERVER'S BOOK OF UNMANNED SPACEFLIGHT
Frederick Warne & Co., London, 1974.

For the geek who gets along better with machines than with people, a guide to Cold War satellites and space probes might offer something like companionship.

<-- front cover

Applegate, Rex:
RIOT CONTROL -- MATERIEL AND TECHNIQUES
Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA, 1969.

The nuts 'n' bolts of political oppression: tear gas deployment, street-fighting tactics, using the baton, etc.

<-- front cover

[Tennyson, Alfred]:
THE WORKS OF ALFRED TENNYSON, POET LAUREATE
E. & J.B. Young & Co., New York, [ca. 1880s].

Overdressed Victorian book pomp: in addition to the lavish binding with its inlaid medallion, all the page-margins inside are festooned with engravings of melancholy landscapes.

<-- front cover

Lettvin, Maggie:
THE BEAUTIFUL MACHINE
Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1972.

Not really a book, but a slipcase filled with 180 vaguely erotic photographic cards showing how the author tones her body by bending over a chair, stepping on a phonebook, etc.

<-- front cover

n/a [Serge Jacques, phot.]:
FOLIES DE PARIS ET DE HOLLYWOOD. No. 280
Société S.N.E.A.R., Paris, [ca. 1964].

The succulent cheesecake photography of Serge Jacques, served up in sizable helpings. With accompanying text in French, bien sûr.

<-- front cover

Sparke, William, and Clark McKowen:
MONTAGE: INVESTIGATIONS IN LANGUAGE
Macmillan Co., [New York], 1970.

A high-concept textbook, so visually dynamic that it's not even clear what discipline it aims to teach: narrative theory? graphic communications? concrete poetry?

<-- front pastedown & title page

Watney, Marylian:
THE ELEGANT CARRIAGE
J.A. Allen & Co., London, 1973.

Descriptions and images of the Tilbury Gig, the Equirotal Phaeton, the Post Chaise, and dozens of other swanky conveyances from the horse-drawn past.

<-- front cover

Sumach, Alexander:
THE ORIGINAL AND AUTHENTIC GROW YER OWN STONE
Reprint edition. Firefly Books, [Toronto, ca. 1980].

Lost in his work, the author chose to forgo mechanical typesetting in favor of a meticulously hand-lettered text; the misspellings add an air of intimate authenticity.

<-- front cover

Kesler, Ken:
DARTS, A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF THE GAME
Self-published, Calgary, [ca. 1990].

Apparently those guys at the back of the pub spend lots of time pondering aerodynamics, anti-bounce technologies, and advanced alloys.

<-- front cover

[SCHOOL COMPOSITION BOOK, BLANK]
No publisher, [Toronto?], [ca. 1930s].

Instead of a notebook decorated with ponies or matinee idols, young Marybelle selected one with an ambiguous ethnographic portrait on its cover. Then she signed the upper right-hand corner in pencil.

<-- front cover

Ducroquet, Robert, et al.:
WALKING AND LIMPING, A STUDY OF NORMAL AND PATHOLOGICAL WALKING
J.B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, 1968.

Staggering info-graphics: the uneven gaits of paralytics, amputees, and other unfortunates expressed as tragic sequences of line art.

<-- plate 88, "Bilateral Ankylosis"

Chambers, I. Mench:
THE DEVIL OF TO-DAY, HIS PLAY BETWEEN THE FALSE AND THE GOOD
John C. Winston Co., Chicago, 1906.

Not properly a book at all, but rather the publisher's prospectus of a work to be sold on subscription by door-to-door evangelists; with many fire-and-brimstone illustrations, and 12 pages of blank order forms.

<-- front cover

n/a:
VISIT THE SOVIET UNION 1937
Intourist Ltd., London/Moscow, 1937.

How better to attract jaded Western tourists than with a travel brochure describing collective farms, hydroelectric power stations, and calisthenics programs for factory workers -- ?

<-- title page and foreword

Gillon, Edmund Vincent:
EARLY NEW ENGLAND GRAVESTONE RUBBINGS
Dover Publications, New York, 1966.

"As you are now, so once was I; as I am now, so you must be..."

<-- front cover

Benedict, Francis G.:
THE PHYSIOLOGY OF LARGE REPTILES
Asher & Co., Amsterdam, 1973.

Factors affecting the rectal temperature of snakes; gaseous metabolism and energy transformations of large alligators; heart rate of the tortoise; etc.

<-- figures 36 & 37 ["1931 Python"]

Haber, Heinz:
THE WALT DISNEY STORY OF OUR FRIEND THE ATOM
Dell Publishing, New York, 1960.

Disney's effort to calm the nerves of terrified Cold War schoolkids, written in a cheerful tone by an ex-Nazi who reinvented himself as a American pop-science writer.

<-- front cover

n/a:
BILDERTEIL DES LEHRBUCHES "BÜHNENFECHTKUNST"
Henschelverlag, Berlin, 1954.

A panorama of swashbuckling: some 200 sequential photos demonstrating dramatic sword-play for the stage. With brief captions in German.

<-- pp. 44-45

Abbott, L.B.:
SPECIAL EFFECTS: WIRE, TAPE AND RUBBER BAND STYLE
American Society of Cinematographers, Hollywood, 1984.

The professional memoirs of the man who created the giant mushroom forest in "Journey to the Center of the Earth," the antibodies in "Fantastic Voyage," the death-arena in "Logan's Run," and countless other marvels.

<-- front cover