You can learn a lot from books.

For example, did you know that from 1839 to 1939 a severe textile shortage resulted in widespread nudity?

No?

We didn’t either, but that appears to be the case.

The proof: 1000 Nudes, a hardcover collection of not 999 but exactly 1,000 nude photos that explores the history of erotic photography, available online now.

This comes to us via Taschen, the same art-focused folks we can thank for visual tomes capturing everything from the Rolling Stones on tour to vintage Playboy pictures. And here, they’re exploring that ever-popular genre of tasteful nudes, so... don’t expect any turtlenecks.

Instead, you can expect 100 years’ worth of clothing-free daguerreotypes, postcards and some artistic, experimental stuff. For starters, you’ve got:

—Two very uninhibited ladies doing what appears to be the 1930s equivalent of yoga on a beach.
—A model playing a snare drum in an open field.
—A recumbent woman intensely smoking a cigarette.

Anyway, it’s a real trove of coffee-table fodder. So maybe get it for a photography-inclined friend.

Or a naked-woman-inclined friend.