OOh, are you in for a treat.
The Colonel, who knows me and loves me anyway, brought me this lovely treasure the last time he visited, a Collier’s Cyclopedia of Social and Commercial Information, copyright 1882, by P.F. Collier.
You don’t even KNOW how cool this book is.
But you WILL.
I’m going to start sharing important tidbits from this disintegrating volume in this space, because, as noted in the Preface:
“At no period in the history of the United States has the necessity for a cheap but perfect Cyclopedia of Useful Knowledge been so imperative.”
Rest assured that “the Publisher has spared no expense in editing and illustrating, while the volume, for beauty, finish and cheapness, is a marvel of taste and progress”.
Stay tuned!
Kellypuffs 
Is it a Steampunk Facebook?
More like a Steampunk Wikipedia and Instruction Manual. 🙂
“The educated man, in every walk of life, carries with him his own capital…”
“Its aim and object is to enable people to educate themselves. The ambition of the Publisher is to place in every American home this treasury of knowledge, invaluable as a manual of study and a work of reference; and while it is simple, progressive and interesting in style, is a veritable power, from the manner in which it enforces education.”
Topics include: Mercantile Law, Legal Documents, “the newest and best system of Phonography”, Laws of Health, and even The Golden Rules of Etiquette, which “will prove invaluable to those desirous of entering into, and shining in society.”
I think it is probably the most wonderful book ever published. 🙂