A book whose allure is actually increased by its utter lack of practical utility for most earthlings.

Reminder to all staff: Do NOT shelve these next to Tom of Finland!

A Sherlock Holmes mystery grows even more mysterious when printed in shorthand.

"In this day the sign letterer who does not understand colors and color harmony, and who does not know how to get up signs in color, is greatly handicapped, and his usefulness as a sign letterer is seriously interfered with."

Have you heard of the new parlour game called "Monkey's Paw"? Friends compete to see who can invent the most sublimely banal book title.

What kind of magazine devotes ten full pages to a typeface composed of naked women photographed on the floor of a Dutch gymnasium?

Maybe we should hold onto this one for our reference library...

There's always a thrilling element of exhibitionism in retail sales.

"Note: These unusual photographs of real bunnies were made possible only by patient unfailing kindness on the part of the photographer at all times."

It's hard to imagine a more poignant bulletin from the lost Age of Print than a photo-illustrated "Report of the State Librarian, 1894."

A foreign atlas can inspire a mood of restless longing and impenetrable solitude.

A confounding response to the age-old question, "Who will watch the watchers?"

Obviously this man was destined to write this book.

Before you get too excited, you should probably know that it's actually just a set of diet regimes designed to fight constipation.

Taxonomy of pasta, circa 1970.

Bibliographic recursion: a printed and bound paper artifact that describes the technology of printing and binding paper artifacts.

"Sometimes movements carried out by particular muscle groups or pointing toward special body areas stand out with arresting significance."

Customers demonstrate a wide variety of reactions when they first encounter the Monkey's Paw "Biblio-Mat."

A naive young socialite enthuses over the decor of the opium den: "It has cushions which simply reek of Oriental voluptuousness and cruelty!"