france

A landscape puzzle from around 1830, the 16 cards can be arranged in a myriad of ways (20,922,789,888,000 to be exact), forming a seemingly endless view. Below are just three. Polyorama, ou 20,922,789,888,000 vues pittoresques. Paris: Gide fils, ca. 1830

Two photographs from the papers of Bettina Bergery, always in fashion.

A postcard sent from Monroe Wheeler to George Platt Lynes,  April 16, 1927, suggesting important books to read.  

Les Jeux des jeunes garçons représentés en 25 gravures à l'aqua-tints d'après les dessins de Xavier Le Prince ; avec l'explication détaillée des règles de chaque jeu ; accompagnées de fables nouvelles par MM. Armand-Gouffé, Le Franc, etc. et suivis d'anecdotes relatives à chaque jeu. (A Paris : Chez P.C. Lehuby, [n.d., after 1822?]) Noted as “sixieme edition” in the preface. - Scenes of juvenile ludic life in France in the early part of the 19th century. -

A pair of Mickey Mouse books from the early 1930s. Mickey, chercheur d'or [Paris] : Hachette, [©1931] whose endpapers advertise the adventures of the fellow on film and in the local newspaper. AND Mickey Mouse movie stories. Philadelphia, David McKay Co. [©1931]

A comic image from a special edition of a French magazine from 1902, focusing on the folly of the stock market.

A marvelous volume from a genre of speculative lunar travel around the turn of the 20th century: Ville D'Avray, A. de. Voyage dans la lune avant 1900. Paris: Librairie Furne, Jouvet & Cie, 1892. Starring M. Baboulifiche and his manservant, Papavoine: