City Guides to the strange and unusual...

By Herb Lester Associates

–––

'Occult London' Guide:

All human life is in London. But within the city exists a shadow world of druids, mystics, magicians and witches. This is an introduction to that hidden realm. 'Occult London' charts centuries of occult activity including the headquarters of the Golden Dawn; Aleister Crowley’s temples; where William Blake saw angels and William Burroughs launched a psychic attack after eating an unsatisfactory cheesecake. For the aspiring occultist, there are shops to buy spells and books on magic, and libraries and museums for further study. Also included is A Guide To Magickal Tools For The Aspiring Occultist, a checklist for those wishing to take their exploration of the subject beyond the physical realm.

Dimensions: 6"W x 8.25"H

–––

'When We Think of Berlin' Guide:

Berlin is a city where the oddball can thrive, yet it retains distinctive and appealing German characteristics: for all its bohemian spirit, it is orderly, efficient, cultured. In this guide you can find markets, beer gardens, beautiful parks, wonderful bread, elegant stationery, intoxicating drinks and excellent coffee, as well as Korean fried chicken and the world’s only Ramones museum. It is an unlikely mixture perhaps, but it’s what we think of, when we think of Berlin.

Dimensions: 4.25"W x 6"H

–––

'Bob Dylan's New York' Guide:

On a cold night in January 1961, Bob Dylan arrived in New York. Within hours, he made his first New York performance at the Greenwich Village coffeehouse Cafe Wha? This guide from Herb Lester Associates charts Dylan’s journey through the city from that first day through the 1960s, as he transitioned from unscrubbed folkie to world-conquering rocker. With more than 40 entries, including the locations of friends’ apartments where he’d crash, the small clubs and bars at which he strummed and sang for change, the scenes of first successes and later controversies, locations of LP cover shoots, and more. 

Dimensions: 6"W x 8.25"H

–––

'Supertime Amsterdam' Guide:

There are 43 entries on this map, from a stall selling fresh herring to a cat museum, shops specialising in movie memorabilia, records, vintage clothing and artists materials. There are cafés, bars and restaurants, museums and churches. A super time awaits.

Dimensions: 4.25"W x 6"H

–––

'Alone in Paris' Guide:

This guide is for the solo traveler & curious wanderer. Among the highlights: a taxidermist extraordinaire, mint tea at the Grand Mosque, found photographs at Images & Portraits, along with places to eat, swim, drink, buy vintage erotica and enjoy a solitary ice cream. 

Dimensions: 4.25"W x 6"H

–––

'Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles' Guide:

Few writers are as inextricably linked with a city as Raymond Chandler and LA. The neon-lit streets, mobbed-up joints and seedy rooming houses portrayed in his fiction were real places, familiar to Angelenos of the time, and in some cases recognizable today. This is a guide to the world of Raymond Chandler and his noble alter-ego, the private detective Philip Marlowe mixing locations from the books, the films and Chandler's personal life. There's the crummy dive where Moose Malloy went looking for Velma; the actual lounge where Marlowe and Terry Lennox ordered gimlets; the top-floor suite where oil executive Chandler got his priceless education in how the corrupt sun-drenched city really operated. This is the Los Angeles that Raymond Chandler carried in his heart. And now, you can too.

Dimensions: 4.25"W x 6"H

–––

'How To Read The Menu In France, Italy & Spain' Mini Phrase Books:

A set of Italian, French and Spanish phrase books for use in restaurants. Each one is the size of a credit card, with enough information to help you navigate a tricky menu. They're small and discreet, to avoid the embarrassment of putting a huge book on the table. Armed with these guides, vegetarians can order without fear of unwittingly eating flesh, and hardened fans of offal will be able to identify every last chewy, wobbly cut on the menu. Comes as a tri-fold wallet.