Ghost of a flea

[Please note: the Monkey's Paw will be open 7 days a week through December 24: Sun-Mon, 12-5; Tues-Sat, 11-6. And yes, we now accept MC/Visa.]
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~~ CHRISTMAS CATALOGUE 2007 ~~
Baffled or skeptical visitors to the Monkey's Paw sometimes enquire: "Does your shop have some kind of, um, theme?"

Our response is usually a melodramatic whisper: "We specialize in the beautiful, the arcane, the macabre, the absurd."

To prove it, we've made this the organizing principle of our second ever Christmas Catalogue. Below you'll find a dozen diverse but representative items from our shelves, specially selected to illustrate the four cardinal tenets of the Monkey's Paw aesthetic.
Pour yourself a brandy-spiked eggnog, put your feet up, and enjoy:
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__The Beautiful______
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[pinup art] MUTOSCOPE CARDS. [St. Paul, MN? ca. mid-1940s.]
During the 1940s, these suggestive postcards were sold from vending machines at carnivals and other unsavoury locations. Each card features a full-colour illustration of a flirtatious cutie in high heels, stockings, swimsuit, negligee, or the like; the punny captions add a wink-wink of lewdness.
Dozens of bright and well-preserved examples in stock; $8 ea.
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de Dillmont, Therese: ENCYCLOPEDIE DES OUVRAGES DE DAMES. Librairie Delagrave, Paris, [ca. 1920].
A little brick of a book over 800 pages long, treating the "ladies' work" of sewing, embroidery, knitting, lace-making, etc. The illustrations -- more than 1000 engravings and a few colour plates -- transform the quotidian act of needlework into a museum of geometry and shadow. Text in French.
Green cloth, with gilt top edge; housed in a plain card slipcase. $65
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Various authors: CHIEH TZU YUAN HUA CHUAN ("THE MUSTARD SEED GARDEN MANUAL OF PAINTING"). [Shanghai? ca. 1900].
Originally compiled in Nanjing in the 17th century, this venerated manual on Chinese art consists of a dozen densely illustrated books. Each demonstrates a particular figurative aspect of classical painting -- bamboo, chrysanthemums, plum trees, birds, etc. -- and in some cases blends these diverse features into complete landscapes. The brushwork is lovely throughout, but the jaunty insects and the inscrutable boulders deserve special commendation. Text in Chinese.
Twelve volumes printed in black ink on double-folded ricepaper, bound in traditional stitched wraps, and housed in three blue silk binders with bone clasps. Several title-labels damaged or absent, and one clasp partly torn; else a fine and alluring set. $450
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__The Arcane______
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McColvin, Lionel: HOW TO USE BOOKS. National Book League, London, 1947.
Picture an aged British schoolteacher explaining to a very naive Martian the sensible way that humans organize, acquire, and learn from books: the lecture would be cozy, patronizing, and triumphantly anachronistic. Can I download a copy for my Amazon Kindle?
Red cloth, a good copy, lacking the dustjacket. $16
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Gordon, W.J.: THE HORSE-WORLD OF LONDON (1893). David & Charles, Newton Abbott, 1971.
The first 14 chapters of this obsessive study describe the living conditions and economic role of every variety of working equine in late-Victorian London: cab horses, postal horses, brewers' horses, coal horses, black funeral horses, etc. The poignant final chapter drops off its subjects -- inevitably -- at the knackers. Facsimile reprint of the 1893 original edition, illustrated with three dozen engravings.
A fine clothbound copy in a bright dustjacket. $45
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Becker, Judith (ed.): KARAWITAN, SOURCE READINGS IN JAVANESE GAMELAN AND VOCAL MUSIC. Three volumes. Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, Ann Arbor, 1984-88.
To Western ears, no musical tradition sounds more alien than the Indonesian gong orchestras known as "gamelan"; and to a reader unschooled in Javanese music theory, no collection of essays could be more intimidating or opaque. Here, in English translation, are nearly 1500 pages of writings by 14 Indonesian musicologists, addressing the technique, tuning, composition, history, and cultural significance of gamelan. The third volume includes a very necessary "Glossary of Technical Terms," as well as a baffling appendix on "Javanese Cipher Notation."
Uniform red cloth, a very good, clean set; no dustjackets (as issued.) $275
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__The Macabre______
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Horka-Follick, Lorayne: LOS HERMANOS PENITENTES: A VESTIGE OF MEDIEVALISM IN THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES. Tower, New York, 1969.
The "Penitentes" are a centuries-old cult of Spanish Catholic ascetics in the remote mountains of northern New Mexico. This account, though it aspires to straight-faced sociology, still manages to linger on the cult's colourful practices of self-mortification: enthusiastic flagellation, cactus-thorn girdles, and mock crucifixions. (The author insists there have been only a few confirmed instances of the cult using real nails.)
Mass market paperback. $9
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Gibson, W. Hamilton: CAMP LIFE IN THE WOODS, AND THE TRICKS OF TRAPPING AND TRAP MAKING. Harper & Brothers, New York, 1909.
What at first glance looks like a quaint book on camping is actually a diabolical guide to snaring and slaying gullible woodland creatures. The dead-fall, the hoop noose, the box snare, and countless other evocatively-named traps are breathlessly described; but for gratuitous sadism, nothing can surpass the hummingbird trap (i.e., a lily blossom filled with glue). With 143 engravings, some of them quite lovely.
Decorated green cloth, the front hinge weak, yet an attractive copy. $50
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DIANE ARBUS: AN APERTURE MONOGRAPH. Special Edition for the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1972.
Diane Arbus may be best known for her troubling portraits of abnormality -- midgets, transsexuals, identical twins -- but even her most mundane subjects reveal something eerie. What could be darker, or more unsettling, than her view of a chuckling yokel holding a flag, or a grimacing child with a toy grenade? This collection, assembled in 1972 to accompany the first retrospective of Arbus's work, deservedly ranks among the most memorable and influential photography monographs ever published.
First paperback printing, issued simultaneously with the hardcover edition; includes the rarely-seen image "Two Girls in Identical Raincoats," which was omitted from all subsequent printings. A very good copy, tight and bright. $375
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__The Absurd______
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CN TOWER: THE WORLD'S TALLEST BOOK ABOUT THE WORLD'S TALLEST FREESTANDING STRUCTURE. Toronto Life/Greey de Pencier, [Toronto?], 1975.
At 4"x20", this elongate novelty won't fit on any bookshelf. Good thing its three-panel design -- with an illustration of the tower in haute-'70s mustard tones printed on all sides -- locks together into a (sort of) freestanding paper sculpture suitable for desktop or mantelpiece. With 12 pages of construction photos, graphs, and tower trivia.
Stapled gatefold pamphlet, well-preserved considering its awkward size. $35
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Nohain, Jean and F. Caradec: LE PETOMANE 1857-1945. Sherbourne Press, Los Angeles, 1968.
The only biography of the only professional farter in history. Joseph Pujol (a.k.a. Le Petomane) was one of the most successful performers in Europe during the 1890s, thanks to his uncommon ability to inhale and exhale through his rectum. Onstage at the Moulin Rouge, he smoked cigarettes, produced startling sound effects, and played "La Marseillaise". . . all out the wrong end. Illustrated with several photos of Le Petomane bending over suggestively.
First American Edition. Black cloth, a fine copy in a bright dustjacket. $45
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[game] PETER CODDLE AND HIS LATEST TRIP TO NEW YORK. McLoughlin Bros., New York, [ca. 1900].
Two decades before Surrealism, and half a century before Mad Libs, this absurdist text generator was entertaining the bourgeoisie in their parlours. "Mr. Coddle" is the story of a bumpkin visiting the big city; his printed narrative is riddled with deleted blanks, which are meant to be filled in with non-sequiturs by players reading from a supplied set of cards. Silly, yes; but the nearly 200 cards are truly ingenious, and their simple noun phrases add up to a fascinating, even bizarre, montage of urban sensation.
Original cardboard box damaged and ineptly repaired, but with comical chromolithograph label still in very good condition; internally, all game parts present, and quite usable. $85
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[We hope you find this list illuminating. If you do not wish to receive any further catalogues, please let us know. Also, if you have ongoing wants or interests, feel free to write us -- whenever possible, we are glad to quote specific items to individual customers via email.]

-- Stephen Fowler
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The Monkey's Paw
1229 Dundas St. West
T.O. M6J1X6
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416.531.2123