Herb Walker's Archive of Books I stumbled over these archived books while looking for information on herbs -- some titles are available elsewhere online, but others seem to be unique to this site. Anyway, here's Herb Walker's Full-text Archives and an unpredictable and eclectic collection it is, with over 220 titles. Happy exploring.

Asian Historical Architecture: this is a site with "over 7600 photos of 506 sites in seventeen countries". It is organized by country, with some cities and regions given particular attention, and there are also some click-on-this maps.

Tales of Old China is an ambitious site which focuses on the period 1840-1950. There's a library, images, and photos. more inside

Books, pictures, and more about China Tales of Old China is an ambitious site with something for nearly everyone. There's a library with an eclectic assotement of titles, some quite unexpected.

The Medieval Bestiary: animals in the middle ages. The illustrations of beasts and the accompanying text on illustrations of bests and accompanying text on this site are compiled from from various medieval sources, and are not taken from any single manuscript. From such selections, it's possible to savour the 'beasts', even as the medieval scholar and scribes surely did. more inside

The first vienna vegetable orchestra: if you carrot all for music, consider these sal-lads.

Damon Runyon A story by him here, a one-page parody of his distinctive style here, and some general information about the man. more inside

Cryptozoology, or ? The knowledge of Animal Anomalies. Are they real or not? Strange reports and glimpses of hidden and mysterious creatures for the inquisitive to ponder in this modern bestiary.

Hardboiled Slanguage of the '30s and '40s Tough Guys and Deadly Dames more inside

Two-in- one yields works unknown to any library! Here booklovers and monkeys who enjoy literary fun and games may encounter the likes of Mason and Moby Dixon [Explorers cross the plains in search of giant mechanical white duck], Watership Down Under the Skin [Australian rabbits, posing as humans, capture hitchhikers and eat them], or Middlemarchsex [Tale of a 19th century provincial village of Greek hermaphrodites], all at I Love Books. via bookslut.com

Yesterday's Labels Still Appeal: Vintage labels are colourful ephemera now sought by collectors. more inside

New Words and Phrases to mend! The Wordspy is dedicated to lexpionage or "the sleuthing of new words and phrases", and is a must for word freaks, writers, and those who relish the byways and new coinages of the English language. via Michael Quinion's World Wide Words newsletter, which also comes highly recommended.

What Beastly Spectacles are here! I think the feigning fox is my favorite, but the sweet-breathed panther and of course the bees are appealing features of The Abedeen Bestiary. more inside

Dealing a Not-so-lame Game: Kishor Gordhandas' choice collection of playing cards includes decks from India and Japan, some of these have circular cards and if you think 52 cards is comprises a deck, think again -- he has decks with 96, or 108, or 120 hand painted cards. Then there is Bob Lawrence's Gallery of Unusual Playing Cards. more inside

The Photography Collections of George Eastman House: the index of photographers includes Matthew Brady, Yousuf Karsh, Alfred Stieglitz, and Man Ray. This extensive and varied site is being continually added to, and is worth returning to. Happy exploring.

Strange Visions Plus a New World Order: French comics, anyone? Or Latin American, then? Or consider the real rules of Inglish spelling? Mark Rosenfelder's Metaverse offers many different tidbits, opinions, and -- for me, the crown jewel in a diadem of rare and fascinating pages-- the wealth of information on Vertual Verduria, indepensible for anyone contemplating a venture into world-building. more inside

Oh, the Rhodes to Ruins: Ancient Ephesus is only one of many classical relics on this site, sponsored by the Turkish government. There are also other materials, as for instance this, featuring a downloadable Guide to Ephesus. more inside

The Many Treasures of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna include an extensive gallery of paintings, as well as objects from antiquity, state carriages, and court uniforms. This is a huge website, the cream of which is found under "Collections".

Goin' to Kansas City, Kansas City Here I Come: A lazy man's tour of The Toy and Miniature Museum, located in Kansas City, offers two floors of childhood relics for the curious to investigate. more inside

Highly recommended tales: Author James Branch Cabell's work has been hard to find, and is difficult to classify -- was he primarily a humorist, a satirist ("For some occult reason ideas become far more revolting when they are very."), a writer of 'cult classics', or a fantasist? more inside