I found this oddity while sightseeing in Andrew Rickard's old blog. It's a fold-out wooden portable toilet stool disguised as a large (18.5 x 13 x 3 inches), nicely bound book. I've seen books hollowed out to conceal valuables or flasks of liquor, but nothing like this.
The blog post suggests the
user might have put a chamber pot underneath it, but I suspect it was
strictly for travel. Travelling by carriage looks pleasant and
civilized in a Jane Austen movie, but I guess in an emergency you
had to tell the driver to stop, and scurry behind the nearest tree or
hedgerow; it would be good to have something sturdy and elevated to
sit on.
It was sold by a Paris
auction house in 2012. Following back the links, I see it was
expected to go for 200 to 400 Euros, but actually went for 2,000.
The fake book's title is
Voyage aux Pays-Bas, "A Journey to the Netherlands."
Is there a sly joke there, referring to the "nether regions?"
1 comment:
I found a contemporary review that stated, in its entirety, "Quel livre merdique!"
There you have it.
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