The Library of Hardly Useful Knowledge by Asuka Ohsawa

“Have you ever wondered what your cat is doing at home while you are off to work? This simple musing has led me to the idea of an astute cat who spends the day hours reading and researching. The girl and cat characters from my 2020 book Gone Fishin’ return for this soon-to-be series to talk about their latest book obsessions.

For the inaugural episode of the series, they geek out on the book entitled Poissons, ecrevisses et crabes, de diverses couleurs et figures extraordinaires, que l’on trouve autour des isles Moluques et sur les côtes des terres Australes (Fishes, crayfish and crabs, of various colors and extraordinary figures, which one finds around the Moluccas island and the coasts of the Austral lands) from 1754. The book was published by a Dutch publisher and bookseller Louis Renard who claimed himself to be a spy for the British Crown. The book is in the public domain, and the Biodiversity Heritage Library has written a fantastic essay on the book (you can find it here). I have downloaded the entire book and stared at all the illustrations for hours (if not for days).

Among the 460 hand-colored engravings of fish and crustacean species included in this book, I picked some of my favorites and reprinted them via Risograph.” - Asuka Ohsawa

7” x 5” x 0.25”

*Consignment item. Not eligible for 10% membership discount. All consignment purchases are final and non-refundable once shipped.