WONDERS OF THE UNIVERSE

Copyright: 1885

Full title: The Wonders of the Universe: A record of Things Wonderful and Marvelous in Nature, Science and Art

This glorious junk store find is a compilation of, as the title states, "wonders of the universe" or at least what they were at the time.

The introduction to this tome of wonders begins by instructing the reader on how to become a "cultured person", namely by reading this book.

After the introduction comes another introduction which informs the reader that "We are passing from the age of steam into that of electricity" and therefore many of the entries in this encyclopedia will concern this new technology.

Indeed, electricity does seem to be a recurring theme amidst a sea of other entries wildly varying between such topics as giant cuttlefish, tattooing, deep sea divers, the suez canal, robots, red wood trees, flagellation, and "curiosities of patent law".

Other entries seem as similar to ones you might find in The Guinness Book of World Records or Ripley's Believe it or Not. "Crimes Discovered Through Dreams", "Some Strange Wills", "Curious Press Blunders", and "At Sea In A Coffin" being a few.

The best part of this wondrous book however, would have to be its illustrations. View below.