Books No One Else Has
LibraryThing is a site for storing and sharing book catalogues. It currently has about 3 million users and 183 million books catalogued.
These are the books on my shelves which appear in no other user’s catalogue.
赤峰幸生の暮しっく by Eisuke Yamashita
This is a coffee table book of photos of the world’s most stylish man, Yukio Akamine. Derek Guy interviewed the author for Put This On here.
This is a boutique, foreign-language publication on a niche subject, which I expect explains why it doesn’t appear in anyone else’s catalogue.
Dicionario de la 10.000 Radiki di la Linguo Universala Ido by Marcel Peach
A self-published dictionary of the would-be successor to Esperanto. It’s somewhat dated (e.g. “di la” is usually “dil” today) and Ido is only spoken by a very small community of enthusiasts. I’m surprised none of the collections of any of the various Esperanto organizations, some of which are very extensive, contain it.
On the Choice of a Common Language by H. Jacob
Another artifact from the era of peak public interest in auxiliary languages. The author followed up this essay the next year with A Planned Auxiliary Language, which was briefly reviewed in Nature.
On the Collecting of Chess Sets by Holger Langer
I ordered this reference book for chess collectors directly from the author. Although the book is in English, it follows the continental practice of having the title run upwards on the spine.
Books from Iceland
Myndlistardeild Listaháskóla Íslands: útskriftarverkefni 2022 by Bjarki Bragason
This is the book for the 2022 graduation exhibition of the Iceland University of the Arts. I’m not surprised no one else on the site has this.
Birgir Andrésson: In Icelandic Colours by Robert Hobbs
A retrospective of Birgir Andrésson’s artworks.
Skáklist - 32 Pieces: The Art of Chess by Mark Sanders
The Art of Chess is a travelling exhibition of interesting chess sets. Although I wasn’t able to see it, the book from its stop in Iceland makes a nice addition to my collection of books about chess sets.
Stakkurinn - The Coat
A pictorial history of (and fairly compelling advertisement for) the outerwear company 66°N.
Ef ég hefði verdið … : Reykjavík 1950-1970 by Nina Zurier
A fictional autobiography in which the editor imagines what it would have been like to grow up in Reykjavík instead of the American Midwest by compiling material from the Reykjavík Museum of Photography.
The Great Haul: French Fishermen in Icelandic Waters by Pétur Gunnarsson
A small paperback from a museum in Fáskrúðsfjörður, a 19th century French fishing station in eastern Iceland.
Saga Spilanna by Guðbrandur Magnússon
A history of playing cards in Iceland.