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The editorial note in this guidebook states that "The tourist library series aims at presenting concise, authoritative and unbiased information on various phases of Japanese culture, old and new."

This particular guidebook, one of a series published by the Japan Travel Bureau over several decades, invites the reader to explore the proud heritage of Japanese garden design. It reflects pride in the natural beauty of the islands, as well as the skill, sensitivity, and insight of the local gardeners.

“Paper – a new servant for the American home!” This cheery booklet was published by the Kalamazoo Vegetable Paper Company (KVP) in 1931 to promote their products. Aimed at the budget-conscious housewife, KVP provides tips and tricks to show how paper can help them improve their homemaking skills. Charmingly illustrated with green and orange line drawings, this slim volume is an excellent example of the importance of collecting ephemera. Paper provides insight to the growing popularity of home economics and the subsequent shift to marketing specifically to women.

Doors convey a lot about a building, according to architect Thomas Leverton Donaldson (British, 1795-1885). Whether it is the majesty and importance of public buildings or the beauty and convenience of a private dwelling, doors showcase the strength or weakness of any façade. Donaldson uses this book to survey doorways of a range of structures, including temples, pantheons, and houses. As a pioneer of architectural education, Donaldson was a founding member of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

This 1885 trade catalog includes illustrations, descriptions, and prices for hundreds of metal tablewares, kitchen utensils, and plumbing fixtures produced by the New York firm of Lalance & Grosjean Manufacturing Co. The company, started by French immigrants Charles Lalance and Florian Grosjean in Woodhaven, New York in the 1860s, was one of earliest American companies to mass produce enamel covered iron cookware and was well known for innovations in the process of tin stamping. The firm, which employed more than 2,000 workers in factories in New York, Harrisburg, Boston, and Chicago at

In this novel, the titular "Gardener” is the book’s author, Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright and “The Commuter” is based on her husband, James Osborne Wright. The dedication reads “This Book belongs to the Commuter.” The story is filled with people who love family and nature, and the black-and-white photos invite the viewer into this genteel world. The Gardener is inspired to make her husband’s home a place of beauty and serenity. Mabel Osgood Wright (American, 1859-1934) was a remarkable and accomplished woman.

Heavily illustrated with black and white photographs, this book—translates to Modern Cottages and Country-Houses in Holland—documents the 20th century Dutch trend in new housing, villa architecture. After the 19th century migration to the cities for industrial jobs, the 20th century saw a reverse movement of people out of the cities and back to the countryside in Holland. The introduction (written in Dutch, French, German, and English) explains the need for small, efficient, and simple suburban and rural housing.

Carpets and Fabrics is a portfolio volume about the famous series of textile design pattern books published in 1929 by Charles Moreau in Paris. Textile artist Sonia Delaunay edited this collection of textiles, created by her contemporary Art Deco and modernist designers. Like her own work, the designs incorporate geometric shapes and abstract patterns for rugs and fabrics, the idea of modernism being that the overall design of interiors and fashion be a coordinated look.

The muted colors and illustrative style of the Arts & Crafts movement period are featured in this color trade catalog from 1912-13. The company focused on making large wallpaper friezes, and was one of the first companies to develop a washable color wallpaper printed with oils that could be cleaned with a damp cloth or sponge. It was called San-kro-mura, the “sanitary” wall covering. The company produced wallpaper with panoramic views of mountains, deserts, forests, lakes, and scenic narratives of folklore and history.

This is a rare 1935 portfolio of Art Deco style pochoir printed full-color plates of designs for modern interiors. Among the designers whose work is represented in this portfolio are Francis Jourdain, Pierre Chareau, Georges Djo-Bourgeois, and the author, Henry Delacroix himself. Living rooms, children’s rooms, bedrooms, offices, dining rooms, and libraries are included, along with the room’s furnishings, such as furniture, lighting, and decorative accessories.

A rare collection of items related to the Bostwick Gate and Shutter Company, this assortment of ephemera includes the patent for Alfred Clark’s Collapsible Gates, his identification card for his entry into the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle Internattionale, and a miniature brass sample of the known “Bostwick Gates.” Highly regarded for his ingenious folding gate design, this trade catalogue directly connects Cooper Hewitt’s existing World’s Fair collection with affordable practicality in industrial design.

This first and only edition of the earliest book on decorative arts designer Dagobert Peche (1881-1923), written by art historian and Vienna University professor Max Eisler (1881-1937), includes 100 full plates of Peche’s designs for lamps, glass, textiles, ceramics, jewelry, silverware, wallpaper, and interiors. Peche became artistic director of the Wiener Werkstätte in 1915, a production community of visual artists founded by Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann in Vienna in 1903.

Birmingham, Englad was known as the first manufacturing town in the world and played a central role in the manufacturing and production of trade catalogs. Trade catalogs emerged as a new and effective way to market industrial design to the masses while competing with rival firms. This brass trade catalog used detailed engravings to sell a diverse group of mass-produced metal products.