Librorum Ridiculorum: A Compendium of Bizarre Books

By Brian Lake

A celebration of all the weird and wonderful books to be found at an antiquarian bookshop.

Books have the power to enrich the soul, to enliven the senses, to expand our horizons… and others are simply mad. This wonderful celebration of the oddest books ever published is a treat for all bibliophiles, booksellers and fans of the bizarre. It is an exploration of the most eccentric titles and covers from our past, that have inexplicably fallen out of print but should never be forgotten.

Gems include:
Scouts in Bondage
Frog Raising for Pleasure and Profit
Premature Burial and How It May Be Prevented
Drummer Dick’s Discharge

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Oct 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9780008545567

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

I am very pleased to offer a selection of the best Ridiculous Books from the Bizarre Library – but at the same time sorry to say ‘I’ rather than ‘we’, as previous compilations of Bizarre Book titles were jointly selected with Russell Ash, who is sadly no longer with us.

As an antiquarian bookseller, I had started collecting odd and unusual titles – which had to be genuine, not concocted – after organising with Peter Miller a Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association exhibition in York back in 1982. And it was Peter Miller who put me in touch with Russell after an overheard conversation in a Mayfair bookshop suggested we had a shared interest.

Frog Raising for Pleasure and Profit was published in 1985 with contributions from librarians and all branches of the book trade – including a sheaf of ‘index cards’ titled Clippings Together by Brian Staples. Compiling the book was, quite simply, the best fun possible out of bed!

When we started, there was no instant checking on the internet – visits to the British Library were necessary to make sure that the books actually existed and their bibliographical details were correct. It is much easier now – and for collectors of odd titles, at least some living examples can be found by searching websites such as viaLibri.

On the back cover of Frog Raising, the authors were photographed ‘browsing among the shelves … of the Bibliotheca Bizarrica, Lytham St Annes’. Many times we have been asked for the address of this mythical library … It does exist now, even though the books mainly lie in boxes I’m sorry to say, but with a selection on display, at Jarndyce Antiquarian Booksellers, 46 Great Russell Street (opp. British Museum), London WC1B 3PA – and see our Bizarre Book cards by visiting