Champion, Baba Rick:
YOGA TENNIS.
A.S.I.A, Inc., Phoenix, 1973.

Hindu meditation meets country club recreation on the hot asphalt courts of Arizona, then wraps up with a sexy foot massage.

<-- front cover

Borzilleri, E.J.:
THE ROYAL ROAD
395th edition(!!). Tyrrell Hygienic Institute, New York, 1945.

The road in question is the digestive tract; and the debilitating condition known as "constipation" is best understood as a traffic jam on the highway to health.

<-- "Digestive Organs of Man," with explanatory key

Rickford, John R. (ed.):
A FESTIVAL OF GUYANESE WORDS
University of Guyana, Georgetown, 1978.

Creole words for body parts; cane-farming slang; cooking terms from Hindi; and even a list of personalized names for cars (Hang On; Aristocrat; the Screw; etc.).

<-- front cover

Bulka, Reuven P.:
LONELINESS [Social Problems in Canada series]
Faculty of Education, University of Toronto, 1984.

In a fierce boreal land with a population density of just three people per square kilometer, it's a palpable threat.

<-- front cover

Miller, Andrew:
MEMBERS OF A BIZARRE ORDER
[Classic Publications, Los Angeles], 1969.

Nun porn, with all the requisite flagellation and cunnilingus. No pictures.

<-- front cover

Mandzuk, William G.:
THE SECRET OF ETERNAL LIFE
Douglas Printing Co., Edmonton, 1956.

Confusingly: "If you flipped the pages of this book in a simple maneuver either wittingly or unwittingly to determine the purpose of its origin then you could not be held responsible for not knowing what this book is all about."

<-- front cover

Newton, Shaw:
THE SECOND LINE OF OFFENCE.
Russell Motor Car Co., Toronto, [1918].

The achievements and inner workings of a munitions plant are extolled with vengeful pride in this account of a car parts company retooled for industrialized warfare. Illustrated with many photos and diagrams.

<-- p. 48 / plate 4

n/a:
THE MAORI HEITIKI, GREENSTONE SOUVENIR OF NEW ZEALAND
Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd., Christchurch, [ca. 1950].

A study -- necessarily brief -- of a traditional jade pendant carved in the form of a homunculus: "There is no explanation in legend or folk lore of its origin or meaning." With nine eerie duotone illustrations.

<-- front cover

Clason, George S.:
THE BABYLON COURSE IN FINANCIAL SUCCESS
Institution of Financial Education, Toronto, 1938.

A five-volume self-improvement program in a box, tarted up with an incongruous (and altogether specious) "Babylonian" theme.

<-- front of slipcase

Richards, Brian:
THE PENIS
Valentine Products, New York, 1977.

A monograph by a monomaniac. The author (himself a penis owner) insists that his subject is "the one single most important thing on all the earth and in the entire history of the earth."

<-- front cover

Cantine, Holley, and Dachine Rainer (eds.):
PRISON ETIQUETTE: THE CONVICT'S COMPENDIUM OF USEFUL INFORMATION
Retort Press, Bearsville, NY, 1950.

Personal experiences and advice from American war resisters incarcerated during World War II; though lacking in hardened criminal street-cred, this is a unique document of protest and moral indignation.

<-- front cover

Muslin, E.:
MACHINES OF THE 20TH CENTURY
Mir Publishers, Moscow, 1974.

"...mainly deals with such modest unassuming hard workers as rolling mills, excavators, lathes, presses and turbines..."

<-- front cover

Graham, Harry:
RUTHLESS RHYMES FOR HEARTLESS HOMES
Edward Arnold, London, [later reprint, ca. 1949].

Illustrated verse, gleefully describing hideous accidents and sadistic cruelties visited upon stiff Edwardian families. Is this where Edward Gorey learned his shtick?

<-- front cover

[folding wall ruler]
McDONALDLAND METRIC & INCHES GROWTH CHART
McDonald's Systems, [U.S.], 1978.

Allows devotees of corporate fast food to track the metabolic conversion of cheeseburgers into children. Unfolds to 5 feet (1.5 meters); illustrated with insipid McDonaldland characters.

<-- top panel

Mershon, Wm. B.:
RECOLLECTIONS OF MY FIFTY YEARS HUNTING AND FISHING
Stratford Co., Boston, 1923.

A lifetime of decimation with shotgun and fly-rod, and never a moment of moral reflection: "I think it was in the fall of 1886 that I killed the last wild turkey in Michigan..."

<-- frontis and title page

Caprilli, Federico; Piero Santini (trans.):
THE CAPRILLI PAPERS: PRINCIPLES OF OUTDOOR EQUITATION
J.A. Allen & Co., London, 1967.

The writings and photo archive of an Italian cavalryman who, on the brink of the automobile age, revolutionized riding with his "forward seat" style (and later died by falling off his horse).

<-- front cover

Smith, William Wye:
THE NEW TESTAMENT IN BRAID SCOTS
Alexander Gardner, Paisley, 1901.

The gospels with a wee o' the Scottish burr: "Gie us ilka day oor needfu' fendin. And forgie us a' oor ill deeds, as we e'en forgie thae wha did us ill..."

<-- title page

Senn, C. Herman:
THE ART OF THE TABLE
Ward, Lock & Co., London, 1923.

Not an art at all, but an inflexible set of formalities for serving nine-course meals to demanding socialites. Includes many diagrams of elaborate napkin-folding.

<-- front cover

Talmage, T. DeWitt:
SOCIAL DYNAMITE; OR, THE WICKEDNESS OF MODERN SOCIETY
C.R. Parish & Co., Philadelphia, 1888.

All the usual dangers, including High License; Fashion's Follies; Watering Places; Sequence of Evil Companions; Dark Deeds; etc. Illustrated with numerous engravings.

<-- front cover

[library record]
MY BOOK LIST
Boots Book-lovers' Library, [London, ca. 1935].

Snapshot of print culture at its zenith: a want-list, issued by a pharmacy chain that rented books to its customers, entirely filled in with the titles of popular novels.

<-- pp. 4-5