Theodore Bachaus perhaps did not take paper quite so seriously. His book sounds serious enough: Ceremonial Paper of America. An Investigation into Their Variety, Uses, and Properties with an Essay on Their Psychological Effects on the Life of Our Time. It includes 14 mounted paper specimens. However, it turns out the ceremonial papers are toilet paper, this being a spoof of a serious book published a year earlier. A 15th, tipped-in specimen includes the motto "Stamp Out Hitler" with a caricature of the monster. The publication date explains that one - 1938. This is number 11 of just 30 copies printed, and bears the signature of Bachaus. This rare book was published by the Golden Hind Press. Item 52. $350.

Item 75 is a special edition of Robert Frost's Mending Wall. Published in 2001 by Seattle's Holburne Press, this copy unfolds to be 38 inches long. You pull on the granite "stones" in the book, and a rock wall pops up, with the words "Good fences make good neighbors," in various typefaces. This is one of 100 copies, designed by Margery Hellmann. I'm not sure, but it sounds like a pop-up book for adults. $165.

Item 50 is a book almost as attractive as the residences it depicts: Villas on the Hudson, by Austin Turner. This 1860 book contains 31 photo-lithographs of "country residences" along the Hudson River. Included are floor plans for these country homes of the wealthy at this decisive moment in American history. This book is most unusual as the photo-lithographs have been colored, very uncommon for photography. $8,000.

For those who collect type specimens, item 214 is a collection. It includes 18 specimen books dated 1908-1943. $1,000.

The Veatchs may be found online at www.veatchs.com, or reached by phone at 413-584-1867.