“It lies in the nature of man to leave records of his life and his thoughts.”

Pages from “English for All, Fortnightly for Germans”, a publication issued to German prisoners of war in England, intended to teach language skills, 1946 – 1948.

A Woman’s Paradise

UNION FRANÇAISE DES INDUSTRIES EXPORTATRICES. l’Elegance Francaise. Paris Ateliers d’Impressions et de Cartonnages d’Art, [1940].

A deluxe book showcasing all of the beautiful products a woman can find in Paris. Intended for distribution at the World’s Fair in New York in 1940, this item never made in across the ocean, due to the occupation of Paris in June, 1940. Contributing authors include Marcel Prévost on Robes; Ferdinand Divoire on Chapeaux; Abel Bonnard on Bijoux; and Maurice Rostand on Parfums.

Opened by Censor

A souvenir album, enhanced by printed slips, photographs, and seating charts, of R. Grugeon’s service with the Postal Censorship Office in the United Kingdom during World War I.

Rascal, Villain, Coward,

“Plan for the improvement of the art of paper war” from: The American museum; or, Universal magazine, 1787 May.

The pocket dictionary . . . of Sabotage!

A curious addition to the Beinecke Library’s collection:
This miniature booklet displays a cover title declaring it to be a “thumb dictionary” of French and German terms. The inside cover betrays its true role, since that is distributed by the “Parti Socialiste Clandestin”. Instead of translated words and phrases, this book is full of instructions for members of the French Resistance on how to sabotage German machinery, manufacturing plants, trains, and automobiles.

Dictionnaire Poucet: Français-Allemand (Paris: Garnier Fréres, cicra 1943)

Mess kit

An artist’s book/kit/agit-prop piece against the Vietnam War.
Mess kit by William Ogue Mustill (San Francisco : Nova Broadcast) 1971.

Playing the odds

Examples of lottery tickets issued to support the Revolutionary War.

The Island Weekly

Die Inselwoche, a hectographed newspaper issued by German prisoners of war in an internment camp on Ile Longue, an island off of Brest in France, 1914-1919.

 Complete with advertisements:

 See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Ele_Longue#First_World_War
and: http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-31312207_ITM

Ombres chinoises

A group of French finger shadow puppets from World War I depicting combatants from many sides, along with requisite tools of engagement: gun, sword, bottles of booze.

[Click to enlarge]

In action: