October 19, 2008

n/a:
SPECIMEN OF PRINTING TYPES AND ORNAMENTS, IN USE AT THE PRINTING OFFICE OF LOVELL & GIBSON [etc.]
Facsimile of the 1846 edition. Bibliographical Society of Canada, Toronto, 1975.

To decontextualize language and free your mind of preconceived meaning, try staring at type specimens for half an hour.

<-- "fifteen-line antique"


Perard, Victor:
HANDS AND THEIR CONSTRUCTION
Pitman Publishing, New York, 1940.

Exemplary illustrations of human hands in every conceivable posture, from pointing, wringing, and clapping, to pouring martinis.

<-- front cover


Klebinder, Paul (ed.):
KRONPRINZENS IM FILM
Verlag Paul Klebinder, Berlin, 1914.

The pride of Prussia, photographically portrayed: Kaiser Wilhelm's eldest son rides, hunts, parades, and poses on the brink of World War I. Text in German blackletter.

<-- p. 34


Thane, Edith:
MARIONETTES ARE PEOPLE
Duell, Sloan and Pearce, New York, 1948.

"Perhaps to you marionettes are crude grotesques with exaggerated noses and awkward stylized movements..."

<-- frontis and title page


Francatelli, Charles Elmé:
A PLAIN COOKERY BOOK FOR THE WORKING CLASSES
Facsimile of the 1852 edition. Scolar Press, London, 1978.

From the indigestible to the austere: baked cod's head, giblet pie, toast water, etc.

<-- front cover


Cauldwell, D.O.:
NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS -- A STUDY OF WET DREAMS
Haldeman-Julius Publications, Girard, KS, 1948.

It turns out that dreams featuring self-fellatio, with predictable results, are more common than previously supposed.

<-- front cover