I haven’t posted any Gutenberg Gems lately, so to right this serious wrong, consider Burrough’s Encyclopedia of Amazing Facts and Useful Information. Besides having an extensive essay on good penmanship, it includes chapters on how to be handsome, a table of 150 topics for debate (Was England justifiable in interfering between Egypt and the Soudan rebels? It’s a question I didn’t hear addressed in the 2004 debates!), how to make ice cream, and all sorts of useful facts like the gestation period of buffalo. How can we possibly have lived without this cornucopia of wisdom.

Check it out.