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

Genres: Nonfiction, Books About Books, Humor, Language, Historical, Comedy

128 pages, Hardcover

First published October 13, 2022

Reviews

[Krystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a great find this was!

I love this little collection of oddly-titled books. It covers weird titles, covers and coincidences and so much of it is hilarious because it requires a dirty mind. XD They kind of say what we're all thinking.

Delightful examples include: Your Answer to Invasion - Ju-Jitsu, Banana Circus, Men are Pigs and Eleven Years a Drunkard, The Life of Thomas Doner. Having Lost Both Arms Through Intemperance, He Wrote This Book With His Teeth as a Warning to Others. What a mouthful!

This is a cute collection, and I admit I was dying to know more about each book. I wanted more details, more excerpts, more information of any form. There's a certain arrogance to the descriptions that does mean some of them went a little over my head (I still don't know what Octogenarian Teetotallers is about) but for the most part they were concise notes that seemed to barely scratch the surface.

A promise of a second volumes comes with the requirement that the first book sells enough copies, so hopefully that's the case! I suddenly find myself very intrigued by more such treasures.

[hans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun perspective to flip through this little hardcover and knowing more about the rare and unheard books that ever existed. Compiled and catalogued by Brian Lake, an antiquarian bookseller and also the founder to Jarndyce Partnership (if you love Dickens you might know where that Jarndyce came from), Librorum Ridiculorum was structured in a bibliographical format with list of unusual and odd titles (including covers) of books that Lake had genuinely collected since 1980s. The summary that came with each titles were neat and short but so entertainingly written— wish the comments could include more background history for each as I believe there might be more reasons to how and why these titles were published.

Full respect to Lake’s effort and his journey in this antiquarian field; all books listed have inexplicably fallen out of print and it was such a wonder to get a chance of knowing and learning about the existence of these collection; most were published around 1930s to 1960s with few were dated back in 1850s. Such a celebration for the oddest books ever published and an interesting peek through the publishing world and the absurd mind of an author.

Thank you Times Reads for the gifted copy!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ridiculus est👍🏻

[Phillip Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most peculiar thing about language is the meaning of words can change from something innocent to meaning something else entirely. The word queer used to mean strange as written in the book Queer Doings at Quantham but now "queer" and "doings" have a different meaning. This book was funny with "Scouts in Bondage" and "Gay Stories for Girls" having new meanings today. This was a great book for both bibliophiles and those who love good jokes.

[Iman Danial Hakim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Librorum Ridiculorum is a collection of the strangest, most bizarre, and most ridiculous book titles ever published. From "The Art of Faking Exhibition Poultry" to "Benefit of Farting Explain'd," the book is full of weird and wacky titles that are guaranteed to make you laugh (dan kadang² sampai kerut dahi, like what?)

But beyond just being a source of entertainment, "Librorum Ridiculorum" also serves as a fascinating look at the strange and obscure corners of the publishing world.

Through Lake's extensive experience as antiquarian bookseller we get a glimpse into the minds of the authors and publishers who created these unusual works, and the stories behind the titles are often just as strange as the titles themselves.

Giving this book 3 ⭐

I would much appreciate if the stories behind each of the absurd titles are elaborated more.

An exploration of the most eccentric titles and covers from the past, that have inexplicably fallen out of print but should never be forgotten.

Thank you to @times.reads & @putrifariza for the opportunity to review this book 🙌🏻

You may grab this latest book of @harpercollinsinternational and get a good dose of entertainment.

It's a book that will leave you laughing and marveling at the sheer weirdness of the publishing industry.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love innuendo, dirty puns, and learning all the ways language has developed and changed over time as much as I do, then this book is for you! Just think, “Dick” used to be a popular boy’s name and “gay” meant happy, to name a few examples. There is a whole world of antique books out there with now-hilarious titles like “Gay Agony” (by the author of “Nightseed”), “Queer Doings at Quanthum,” and “Invisible Dick.” It makes me want to hit up a book sale and start my own collection. What fun!

[Gert De Bie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brian Lake, antiquair boekhandelaar, verzamelt sinds 1982 bizarre, opvallende of compleet van de pot gerukte boeken. Bij Harper Collins publiceerde hij nu een selecte uit zijn 'Ridiculous Books from the Bizarre Library'.

De lezer krijgt een mooi vormgegeven boekje voor de neus met een 70-tal titels die om diverse redenen bizar of belachelijk zijn. Veelal draait het om woordspelingen, dikwijls door veranderd taalgebruik ontstaan. Natuurlijk lachen of glimlachen we vandaag om titels als 'Invisible Dick', 'Scouts in Bondage' of 'Play with your own Marbles'.
Of de humor zit in compleet verouderde visies op maatschappelijke fenomenen of wetenschap. 'The New Radiation Recipe Book' is een recepten boek over koken met radioactieve stralen, 'How to abondon Ship' verscheen tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog en 'Atomic Bombing - How to protect yourself' begin jaren '50, met het advies om je op te rollen in een bol als je weggeslingerd wordt.

Librorum Ridiculorum is een amusant tussendoortje, plezierig als toiletlectuur, maar weegt toch een beetje te licht voor wie echt verrast wil worden. Ook als gaat het allemaal om echt bestaande titels, toch doet de vormgeving er geen goed aan: de boeken zien er uit alsof ze door een Photoshop behandeling evengoed verzonnen konden zijn.
Enfin, met plezier doorbladerd maar geen must have. Al ga ik wel even de tweedehandsmarkt afspeuren op zoek naar een exemplaar van 'Two Boys in Beaver-land'.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is clearly influenced by the 2007 'Scouts in Bondage' but it is far better and has more, and better books, who can resist 'Flashes From the Welsh Pulpit' or 'Drummer Dick's Discharge'. Also, unlike its predecessor, Liborium Ridiculorum contains not simply illustrations of the original books but some relevant comments. Thus 'Two Boys in Beaver-Land' is about, we are told, 'Adventures in the Canadian outback...' though I am not sure what licence has been taken with this comment on 'Scouts in Bondage':

"The scouts in this story, though fettered for a while by a period of bondage, are just the jolly, good-natured, determined boys who are typical of a country troop struggling for existence..."

Which contrasts rather oddly with the books synopsis on Goodreads:

"A professor engages the Scouts to help dig up remains of a ruined chapel, seeking blocks of masonry with inscriptions. Assembled together these reveal the location of a secret document which restores the rightful owners to the local mansion."

Still this book is great fun and probably a better, more satisfying read, than its forebearer.

[Karen Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful, quirky, funny book.

[Helene Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is HILARIOUS. Some of the books are absolutely brilliant. I sent some photos to my friend and she said she laughed so hard she snorted! I really hope HarperCollins release a volume two soon.

The only thing I would say is that there should maybe be more information on the books, but I think part of this book's charm is that it is so short and easy to browse, so there's a conflict for me!

There are photos of the book covers, and a short description of the book and I just had to Google some of them as I was reading because I couldn't believe some of them were real, but they are.

[JournalsTLY]

Before the invasion of memes, there were fun and funny books !

Some of my favourites :

Writer - BENT , superintendent James
Published 1891
Book Title : Criminal Life : Reminiscences of 42 years as a Police Officer

Writer - DULL , Raymond
Published 1941
Book Title : Mathematics for Engineers

Assure you that this is a fun book . Never dull .

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a compilation of real, old, book covers📚 that have titles that are a double entendre. Heather and I read them together and laughed like 12 year olds at titles like Invisible Dick, Warne's Pleasure Book for Girls, and Queer Doings at Quantham. Many of the covers were ridiculous, and the curator quotes funny lines in his descriptions. This book is for sharing.

[Jason Schmidt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some pretty funny book titles, but the actual content of this book, and the descriptions of the “bizarre” boos is very succinct. I would have appreciated a bit more content. But, what is there, is humorous.

[Christelle]

There really is a book for everything!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Splendidly weird collection of titles.

[Saturday's Child · Rating 4 out of 5]

This humorous little book just goes to show that there is a book published on just about any subject you can think of. It also features some wonderful laugh out loud titles.

[Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

She was fun. Nothing of real substance but neither am I❤️

[Megan Close Zavala · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little read about obscure books with suggestive sounding titles!

[Alex Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful.

[Relyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

With a title like that, how could I not request the book from my library? This is fun, but only sporadically funny. I didn't find it terribly interesting after the first perusal.

[Ron Kastner · Rating 4 out of 5]

one does wonder how somethings get through the editing process...

[Wampus Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine gift book. A few too many teehee titles (“they use the word gay and it sounds funny!”), but some really good finds and well-presented

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stumbled upon this at the library and it was super short but some of the books described made me laugh out loud

[Helga Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deliciously wicked

[Arin Brutlag · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the books look interesting enough, but I was definitely expecting more intelligent humor than "hur hur, that says beaver" and "this picture looks like a penis."

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining enough, I suppose.

[Ciociosan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Book titles rarely funny. Bizarre? Everything is bizarre depending on how you look at things. One of the worst book I ever had

[Fae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it, it was a funny look in on strange and wonderful books a good read if you're interested 😁