E-Lists and Catalogs
2026 Catalogs
Catalog 30: People, Places, and things on the Margins
This list presents a broader range of what the "margins" can look like from our cataloging desk – including queer spiritualists, the differently abled, Indian astrologers, oddball professions in South Africa, and immigrant authorship. As always, there is some representation of printing in India, including a lovely example of wood-type blocks.
Through a series of happy coincidences, we've ended up with a number of fascinating collections that are a bit too unwieldy to display at the Rare Book and Fine Press Fair in Manhattan at the beginning of May. Among these is the most extensive representation of the work of the first South Asian American millionaire (item 4), a full run of an otherwise unrecorded periodical issued by a California-based Theosophical organization (item 2), and an eye-catching collection of Hindu devotional art by an outsider artist from India (item 8).
Catalog 28: Modern India, an Ephemeral History
A list of highlights in South Asian ephemera and manuscripts that we brought to the Ephemera Society (2026) Fair. Among these offerings, we are especially fond of the woman nurse's photograph-album, as well as the forty-page catalog of American-made paper for Indians. Also a source of joy is a letter by a young nurse to NASA, and a modest selection of South Asian American political ephemera.
Catalog 27: March Madness, an Ephemeral preview
A gathering of books, pamphlets, and ephemera around my favored themes of "turbans," the "Hindoo" in America and abroad, and twentieth century New Religion and occulture.
Catalog 26: Indian Nationalism
A selection of pamphlets, fliers, and archives around the theme of India's nationalist movement and the broader struggle for South Asia’s self-determination.
Catalog 25: Visual and Material Culture
A selection of my more graphically appealing material, as well as a number of trade catalogs and sundry matters. As always, South Asia remains a core focus throughout this list, but the selections at times venture further afield, as well as closer to home.
Catalog 24: Missions, Religions, and Movements
Twenty-odd acquisitions in the fields of missions and traveling religions, from the nineteenth through the twentieth century. As is usual, the focus here is largely on South Asia, but there is a selection of other subjects examined and represented.
2025 Catalogs
Catalog 22: Books in Boston Highlights
A short list of the highlights in my booth at the Hilton Back Bay, in the Boston Shadow Show.
Catalog 21: Arabism, Agitation, Aktion
20th century social, religious, and political material. Featuring the first edition of Elijah Muhammad’s Flag of Islam, an unrecorded document by the Aquarian Foundation, and a collection of books and ephemera relating to Otto Muehl’s infamous Friedrichshof Commune.
Catalog 20: Modern Native Americana
An illustrated list of material relating to Native American history, arts, and culture. Among the subjects covered are indigenous cooking; the controversies surrounding Indian Schools; the land and water rights of indigenous people; domestic violence against Native women; among other sundry matters.
Catalog 19: Allentown Highlights
Freshly cataloged acquisitions brought to the Allentown Book and Paper Fair in October 2025. Represented subjects include new religious movements, Black religious figures, alternative medicine advertising, and American Muslim groups.
Catalog 17: New (Weird) Indians
A selection of fascinating books and ephemera documenting early South Asian American religious teachers and occult lecturers.
Early Publications by the Ansaaru Allah Community
A collection of scarce sixteen books, pamphlets, and newsletters documenting the most widespread African American Muslim community in late-20th century Brooklyn.
Catalog 13: Quacks, Cures, and Healers
Our first brief foray into the fields of alternative health, patent medicine, and fitness-related items. Of particular interest is an unrecorded trade card of O. S. Fowler; an otherwise unknown circular of a Pennsylvania based woman chiropractor; and a pamphlet advertising the mind-reading prowess of a popular psychologist in Ohio.
Catalog 12: New Religious Movements
A selection of scarce and well-presenting books and ephemera touching such topics as Spiritualism, Theosophy, New Age religions, and the early history of Yoga in America. Of particular interest is Veil of Maya, a book by an early student of a South Asian American yoga guru, Complete Yoga, one of the first photographic representations of Hatha yoga poses published in America, and an unrecorded lesson plan by Sri Deva Ram Sukul, founder of one of the first yoga institutes on the East Coast.
Catalog 10.2: The Magic of “Turbans”
A brief view of my latest acquisitions of African American and Indian performers in turbans, brought to the 2025 NY Shadow Fair. Though I make no claims that this is a comprehensive treatment of the subject, I hope to have touched upon some of the major points of interest related to how this eye-catching headwear was used by persons of color.
Catalog 10.1: Burials, Quacks, and Prodigies
A short list of material relating to unusual sideshow prodigies, burial scenes, and medical hijinks, brought to the 2025 New York Shadow Fair.