A Book Review from the Past and a Web site review from the Present!
One of the most amazing books (make that a series of books) ever is the astounding Household Physician published originally in 1905 with copyright in England by F. S. Woodruff, the book was republished ten years later in the United States, and again in 1923 by J.A. Brown. If you have the slightest interest in medical Illustration, homeopathic medicine, folk medicine or even art, this is an amazing source and SITE...the entire volumes are available online HERE.
A compendium unmatched! The site is sponsored by J. Crow's, a source of herbal medicinals, folk medicines and such.
The claim is made within the preface that "No one who reads this book thoroughly will be often imposed upon thereafter by quack nostrums..." I'm not sure about you, but I have had my fill of quack nostrums, and thus recommend this book.
Now I am not sure I would start here rather then, say, WebMD if I had a medical emergency... but if the bleeding has subsided and the poison has been purged, this makes for an entertaining afternoon. In many cases, the Household Physician is spot on...other times? Eh. Let's just say medicine has progressed a bit since the late 19th century, and bar Republican efforts, it will continue. Speaking of Republican efforts...how come they aren't suing because we are forced to buy AUTO insurance? Isn't that "unconstitutional" too? I'm just asking.
The illustrations are, as you can see. simply extraordinary and I suspect hold up to modern medicine better than the text. No artist is credited in the book, which contains 500 line drawings in addition to the remarkable color plates above (tipped in as a folded group) allowing all to play "invisible man" and marvel. All manner of pompous physicians are credited, but the artists? Not a thing. I loaded "Man" here in reverse so you can put him back together! Anyway, the illustrations and hundreds more are available online HERE.
Have fun...but talk to your doctor first! Numerous copies of the chunky bigassed multi- volume set are available from used book dealers. If you purchase one or all, make sure the inserted color plates have not been torn out. Especially in the Veterinary volume, as the cow is great!
Exercise on the Apparatus Tumbling and Stunts by W. J. Wittich Book Review from the Past by Jim Linderman
W. J. Wittich and H. C. Reuter created an amazing book in 1925, which to my reckoning will go out of copyright in two years, so I thought I would jump the gun here a bit and wake up the publisher. As the few pieces of junk mail I receive frequently say "Time to Renew!"
Each photograph looks like a David Byrne video. The images, which I find striking and quite beautiful, are not even credited in the book. They appear to be a mixture of time-lapse and beautiful group shots. It is most unusual for a "technical" manual such as this to have no line drawings at all, but we are fortunate...
Now you may be wondering exactly what this book is. Most of us and unfortunately most of our children won't recognize the action, but some will...this is an early gymnastics and body movement guide prepared with extraordinary care and skill. It was also prepared with a wonderful love of the human form. Appreciate the excerpt here from the introduction:
"Swinging and climbing sensations are still the most pleasant elements of the physical life of man. Let us not forget that the physical activities which we today call play and recreation are the activities which our forefathers for hundreds and thousands of years indulged in every day, and all the time, in their struggle for existence while they went through the periods of the savage life, the nomad, the primitive agriculturist, and the tribal life. Our children today enjoy better than to climb up into trees, onto sheds, and roofs; the higher they go the better they like the experience, much to the dismay of the overanxious mothers."
There are 50 photographs, all splendid. The activites sound as good as they look: Forearm-support Circle, Reading Newspaper. Lazy Man's Circle, Double Hip Circle, Development of the Kipp, Acrobatic Hand-Shake and Elephant-Walk.
No, I have not been in a gym class for a while, and since my marathon running days are behind me now, I appreciate agility and fitness more than ever. These examples make me hurt in a different way...Now it just hurts that I can't do them!
The Book is 110 pages, and while WELL out of print, I am sure used copies are around. MIne was Five bucks and was once owned by a fellow in Texas, but it came back to Michigan and I found it this weekend.
W. J. Wittich, from La Crosse, Wisconsin must have been quite a guy. 15 years after producing his book, he created the "Wartime First Aid Wheel" as it is called in the splendid book by Jessica Helfand titled "Reinventing the Wheel" a wonderful design book listed at right somewhere. Wittich's Wheel appears on page 85. It was an 8 inch disc packaged in a sleeve.
In addition to serving on the faculty of Teachers College, La Crosse, Wisconsin Mr. Wittich was an advisor to the American Red Cross and was also a painter. I'd love to have more information on both the technique of photography and Mr. Wittich himself, but all I have is the book. Which is great, and if it were used a bit more, I suspect our kids would appreciate moving like they did again when his book came out.
I am not going to open a debate on the appropriateness of circus sideshow freak photographs. To be sure they are among the most striking of images and these photos were taken so the performers could sell them for a dime each to the audience...so who can begrudge the process? 100 years later Diane Arbus took similar photographs, but rather than being used as souvenirs or trade cards, they made her career. Never one to shy from the disturbing, overlooked or neglected, I am attracted by the taboo of these images, and they still manage to make the desperate attempts of contemporary artists to "shock" pale by comparison.
Continuing to review books which have been forgotten or deserve another look, this is the fairly obscure "Monsters of the Gilded Age: The Photographs of Chas. Eisenmann" by Michael Mitchell. Published in Canada in 1979, and likely a small edition, it is expensive today on the used book market but available.
Despite the author's intensive research, more is known about the performers shown than the photographer. Eisenmann worked with his wife on the Bowery in New York City for ten years and specialized in theatrical portraits. He then turned the studio over to Frank Wendt, (a photographer I am profiling and intend to publish a book on before long) then vanished. By 1904 he was gone. What IS known remains in the photographs, sharp, crisp, perfectly posed and lit pictures of some of the most remarkable humans ever captured by camera. Mitchell describes the environment of the working portrait photographer in the Cartes de visite and Cabinet Card era (Eisenmann worked in both) and produces a 110 page book with an example of the artist's work on nearly every page. Each performer is identified and discussed thoroughly, and while it might not be a book you will leave on the coffee table, it certainly will attract interest if you choose to share it.
The book is out of print unfortunately, and though it was reprinted with a slightly different title in 2003, I can only find used copies for sale. Images by Eisenmann turn up on ebay frequently and many have been reproduced on the web.
Since no one reads blog posts, they only look at the pictures, I've decided from now on to review books only for myself, and only those which have meant something over the years. The physical book seems to be a glut on the market, so everything will be readily available used and affordable, another bonus! Like puppys at the shelter, good books deserving a home, and wherever possible I will link to the books for purchase. You will regret none. Where possible, I will link to the publisher or vendor of new copies. When out of print, as with this title, Amazon.
I met Milt Simpson 20 years ago, he was a neighbor in Hell's Kitchen and just delightful. His first book helped to create a whole new genre of collecting, the windmill weight, and with Milt's graphic and designing skills, it was a handsome book indeed. Beautiful things. (But to my eyes, not as beautiful as an effigy of a naked woman) So I bring you Folk Erotica. With text by Jennifer Borum, a fierce and informed art scholar. Milt assembled a survey of mostly eccentric and curious erotic folk art objects created over the centuries. It is a small, modest, and now inexpensive book with 140 pages of the most splendid pieces of canes, cans and carvings, all portraying that which makes men take notice. Heavy coverage of the late 20th century as well, which reflects the recent interest in outsider artists. As you can see, many collectors were happy to take some of their favorite pieces out of the closet (and off a pedestal) for Mr. Simpson. I have seen (and owned) some of the pieces in this book over the years, and while many are whimsical and lack the profundity of a tribal fetish object, all are splendid.
Folk Erotica was published in 1994 by Harper Collins and is highly recommended.
