I was very happy to stroll into the Strand today and procure an old copy of The Secret Museum of Mankind. Here is a book published around 1935 that contains no author, no copyright, no index. A cryptic Manhattan House, New York is given as publisher. No such publisher is known to have existed. And yet here is this book, 564 pages of photographs of the weirdest human specimens from around the world. There is no text outside of the brief captions, and the captions are enigmatic and dated. This is unapologetic pop anthropology.
One Ian Macky has dutifully scanned the entire Secret Museum for your internet browsing. And here's an old article from the Voice about the book and ethnomusicology: The Gone World by Erik Davis.
13.2.08
THE SECRET MUSEUM
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4 comments:
I would love to flip through this thing.
i already knew the secret awsomeness of the loin cloth, but i love to be reminded. this is badasssss, you should bring it next time you come to town...
that is the coolest thing ever.
Thanks, guys. I've got it locked in my secret safe in the wall behind my painting of Washington crossing the Delaware. You can check it out whenever.
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