Here at World of Rare Books we are lucky to have items and titles ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime, from books on obscure subjects to wonderfully weird pieces of ephemera.

Take, for example, the 1862 Catalogue of Sanitary Earthenware Appliances by J. Dimmock & Co Sanitary Potters. Peruse at your leisure all 72 pages of decorative toilets, urinals, seats and handles for all of your bathroom needs.

Or perhaps partake in some light reading with Oyster Culture in Relation to Disease, a swift 174 page report on the correlation of oyster cultivation and its proximity to sewage outlets creating somewhat of a problem for the consumers.

One of our personal favourite finds is the Twentieth Century Album of Confessions, a book of twenty questions and spaces to answer. With entries between the years 1908 to 1938 and questions such as ‘Should women Enter Parliament?’ it makes for some genuinely interesting reading. On answering the question ‘Whom do you consider the greatest living sailor?’ one lady wrote ‘The captain of the Titanic’ only 9 days after it had sunk!

 

We also came across a plate from an 1824 book The Stranger in Brighton which depicts the old chain pier. Engraved by John Baxter from an original by George Baxter the only other copy we are aware of is in the V. and A. Museum.

So whether it’s a hand written note book of remedies and knitting patterns from 1848, a book full of plates showing pre 1900s furniture, or an Offer Book from an estate agents in the late 1800s, we have a world or curious for you to get lost in.