An illustration from Shafts from an Eastern Quiver by Charles Jodrell Mansford (1894).  The caption reads: "Headlong down the abyss."

An illustration from The Letters of Charles Dickens (1893).  The caption reads: "I am the bearer of evil tidings."

Says lyricist Howard Dietz, "I bought two ... speed boats, one with a top to ward off the rain, and one without.  They were called 'Stuff' and 'Nonsense.'  'Nonsense' had been owned by Fred Astaire."

Jonathan Caws-Elwitt notes: "Nonsense" was presumably Astaire's name for the boat (which Dietz presumably built on in dubbing "Stuff" thusly)--because it's considered bad luck, isn't it, to rechristen a boat?  I mean, how could it not be 'bad luck' to rechristen a boat?  Pretty much everything is 'bad luck' to the nautical mind, unless it's one of the very specific things deemed to be 'good luck.'

You've heard of "forced perspective," but we call this unusual effect "horsed perspective."  From Across France in a Caravan by George Nugent Bankes, 1892.

"Where am I?"  An illustration from Bill Nye's History of the United States (1894).

Here's a contentless book scanned by Google and spotted by TheArtOfGoogleBooks.  It's technically Essays by Oliver Goldsmith (1756).

Here's a precursor to Heather Has Two Mommies (1989): Two Mothers of One by Roof Roofer a.k.a. Rufus Randell, 1896.

Exquisite things are invariably surrounded by fairies.  From A Tramp Abroad Etc. by Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1897).  The caption reads: "An exquisite thing."

"Death's Ramble": an illustration from Humorous Poems by Alfred Ainger (1893).

Here's a precursor to how literally now means figuratively, from Doctor Nikola by Guy Newell Boothby (1896).  The caption reads: "We literally flew."

An illustration from Humorous Poems by Thomas Hood (1893).  The caption reads: "He seemed a dog adrift."

An illustration from Our English Cousins by Richard Harding Davis (1894).  The caption reads: "People one knows take one for a butler."

An illustration from Genom Sveriges Bygder by Johan Herman Hofberg (1896).

Here's a question we ask almost every day.  "Great Heavens! What has happened?" Found in Illustrated Penny Tales From the Strand Library (1894).

An illustration from In Borderland by Matthew Robert Smith Craig and illustrated by John Wallace (1899).

An illustration from When Life is Young by Mary Elizabeth Dodge (1894).

An illustration from The World of Romance (1892).  The caption reads: "A live devilkin!"

An illustration from Lavengro by Augustine Birrell (1896).  The caption reads: "There's the wind on the heath, brother; if I could only feel that, I would gladly live for ever."

"An extemporaneous No-Popery Dance."  An illustration from The Letters of Charles Dickens (1893).

We're pleased to debut a new, rather elaborate online oracular thingamajig.  William Keckler got the scoop, and he blogs about it here.  Our favorite comment so far: "I just expected this 'yes' or 'no' and I got that treat like going to the carnival.  I love this as conceptualist art and how the 'answer' turns out to be a hall of mirrors that just leave you so confused and almost sorry you asked ... a metaphysical rebuke.  So brilliant."  Meanwhile, here's a sample report for the question, "Is wonder more powerful than mystery?"

"A theory that is marginally nonsensical will always perform well against complete and utter nonsense."

An illustration from On Blue Water by Edmondo de Amicis (1898).  The caption reads: "Grinding out curses."

An illustration from Vikram and Vampire by Charles F Burton (1893).  The caption reads: "There he found the Jogi."

An illustration from Artful Anticks by Oliver Herford (1894).  The caption reads: "Alas, for castles in the air!— There's no delusion anywhere."

"The surprising truth is that sharks can be rendered harmless fairly easily — you just flip them upside-down." —BBC Wildlife

An illustration from The Fate of Fenella (1892).  The caption reads: "He was awakened by the sound of oars."

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"They have great ears": an illustration from The Marvellous Adventures of Sir John Maundevile (1895).

An illustration from The Marvellous Adventures of Sir John Maundevile (1895).  The caption reads: "Their eyes and their mouths be behind in their shoulders."

This image inspired an additional caption: "Back in my day, even taking a break was miles away."  From Through Connemara in a Governess Cart by Edith Somerville, 1893.

"On account of the air": an illustration from Face to Face with the Mexicans by Fanny Chambers Gooch (1890).

"Black Ladies": an illustration from A History of Tong, Shropshire by George Griffiths of Weston under Lizard (1894).

"It bears repeating: learn how to file properly and do it at the end of each day."

"Do you wear pants?"  From A Ramble Round the Globe by Baron Dewar (1894).

Here's a precursor to the German band Nena's song "Neunundneunzig Luftballons" (99 Red Balloons), from La Vie des Boulevards by Georges Montorgueil (1896).

Momus suggests that there are "few tales which would not be improved by the addition of the phrase 'suddenly, a shot rang out.'"
Decide for yourself as we alter the opening lines of . . .

Desire by Lindsay Ahl

I have such a craving for one of those small cold bottles of Concord grape juice that I leave Michael's house at around six in the morning and head toward the 7-Eleven, which is always open twenty-four hours a day.  Suddenly, a shot rings out.

(Thanks, June!)

An illustration from The Revelations of a Sprite by Auber Melville Jackson (1897).  The caption reads: "'Hum,' said the owl."

"Are we to descend?"  An illustration from The Secret of the Court by Frank Frankfort Moore (1895).

From Crusoe's Island: A Ramble in the Footsteps of Alexander Selkirk by John Ross Browne, 1864.

"It seemed to Elma ... that the sea moaned in an unreasonable and very dreadful manner."  From Wild Kitty by Elizabeth Thomasina Meade, 1897.

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The House of Nonsense, via Jonathan Caws-Elwitt

"He looked surprised, displeased, alarmed."  (From Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.)

Here's a precursor to Winnie the Pooh getting stuck in a honey pot, from The Camp Fires of the Everglades by Charles Edward Whitehead (1891).

An illustration from Le Louvre et Son Histoire by Albert Babeau (1895).

For fans of the game Clue/Cluedo, here's a precursor to "Col. Mustard in the drawing room with the candle stick," from Illustrated Penny Tales From the Strand Library, 1894.

"Terror": an illustration from Otto of the Silver Hand, written and illustrated by Howard Pyle (1888).

The title page to Robert Greene's "Groundwork to Coney Catching," reproduced in The Highway of Letters by Thomas Archer (1893).

Ornate capitals have physical counterparts.  For example, this is the U of Ulram Chapel as it appeared before 1876.  It is preserved in Holderness and Hullshire Historic Gleanings, 1886.

Here are some vintage mock moons from American Explorations in the Ice Zones by Joseph Everett Nourse (1884).

"Hell mouth," from Bygone Warwickshire by William Andrews (1893).

It's only funny if he says so.  The caption reads, "Extremely amusing, I do assure you."

"Kerblinkity-blunk": an illustration from B. C. 1887: A Ramble in British Columbia by James Arthur Lees (1889).

An illustration from Bill Nye's History of the United States (1894).  The caption reads: "Opening of the witch-hunting season."

David Levin has said that "The real contest is how we play against ourselves.  There's always that other side of each of us, pulling us down."

The caption of our illustration reads, "He was annihilated every game."  It's from A Ramble Round the Globe by Baron Dewar, 1894.

An illustration from The Conquest of the Moon by Andre Laurie (1889).  The caption reads: "Oh! you needn't laugh."

An illustration from At the Rising of the Moon by Frank James Mathew (1893).  The caption reads: "Dark Andy and the headless man."

What was the Vitruvian Man's animal familiar?  You guessed it — the Vitruvian Giraffe.  (Our illustration is from Artful Anticks by Oliver Herford, 1894).

An illustration from A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder by James De Mille (1888).  The caption reads: "'This,' said Layelah, 'is the way we have of escaping.'"

An illustration from Bill Nye's History of the United States (1894).  The caption reads: "Oil the gearing of the solar system."

It's little known that between hither and thither is this:

Here's a "strokhr" (small geyser) disguised as a Christmas tree in The Land of Thor, written and illustrated by J. Ross Browne, 1867.

"Wikipedia recognizes eleven genres of literature.  Not only are 'erotic' and 'nonsense' among them, but they're listed side by side.  Suddenly I feel very validated as a writer, haha." —Jonathan Caws-Elwitt

Here's a precursor to Menke Katz's line about how "Even time is tired here of night and day" ("Old Manhattan," Rockrose, 1970).  This tired Father Time appears in Illustrated Poems and Songs for Young People, edited by Lucy Sale Barker, 1885.

An illustration from Through the Year (1887).  The caption reads: "Small clouds are sailing.  Blue sky prevailing."

An illustration from The Dawn of the XIXth Centruy in England (1886).  The caption reads: "Theatrical doctors recovering Clara's notes."

"The surprising truth is all golfers, from Ben Hogan to Hulk Hogan, actually strike the ball with the club in a decelerating mode." —The Impact Zone: Mastering Golf's Moment of Truth

Here's an example of crowd-surfing from back in 1940, courtesy of Charlie's Big-Hearted Aunt:

From our blog on Magic Words & Symbols Spotted in the Wild:

"Where is truth to shelter, where is it to find asylum if not in a place where nobody is looking for it: . . . stamp albums?" —Bruno Schulz

Can a stamp album serve as a mystical guidebook to the entire universe? The visionary Polish writer and fine artist Bruno Schulz certainly believed it could, as he explains in Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass. His ruminations on postage stamps as "handy amulets" forming "a book of truth and splendor" inspired us to piece together a Tarot deck of stamps from around the world. We reveal and explain the work in progress here:

The Stamp Album Tarot

"Of course it is nonsense, but I am defensive about it and insist on exposing it to others. Surely it is very important nonsense for me." —Bob Neale, Wondering for Magicians