Additional Books In Harold Smith's Apartment
Several months ago, Twin Peaks Blog's Steven Miller identified many books in Harold Smith's apartment. I hurriedly tried to identify others, excited to revisit an area I'd searched in the past. This post documents my findings, as shared with Mr. Miller, who gave me his blessing to make my own post.
There are titles on his page that I omit from mentioning in this post. You can read about them here.
In episode ten (2.003, The Man Behind Glass), Donna discovers Laura's second diary at Harold's house. There is an open book beside the diary. A pruning saw and a pair of scissors rest atop its pages.
After procuring a copy on eBay, I found that page 422 matches the page seen at the end of episode ten.
The given description (below).
Thanks to Twin Peaks Blog I was able to buy a copy of The International Book of Orchids by P. Francis Hunt.
The book is seen in episodes ten and twelve. It is circled in the image below:
Few of the titles on Harold's shelf are legible, like most of the books seen in Twin Peaks. The following is a list of what I am able to discern.
A collection of red cyclopedias can be seen beside Donna in episode ten.
Studying the Blu-Ray multiple times (the image blurs in the act of
pausing a frame), I believe the books read 'cyclopedias' instead of
'encyclopedias.' I was able to make out a few other words, which I used
to search for results online. I believe the books in Harold's home are The Cyclopedia of Medicine and Surgery Specialties. There is a
difference with the books on Harold's shelf, as they have a black band
and small white squares at the base of their spines, which might indicate they are
former library copies. The images below are the only images I can find of the actual books. Currently, I am unable to locate any further information despite many searches.
More books can be seen when Donna looks at a slip of paper she finds jutting from the book shelf (The Man Behind the Glass, episode ten, 2.003). I believe the first book is the 1975 edition of the 'Journal of Bone And Joint Surgery' by R.C.F. Catterall.
Image: Amazon
The second book on the shelf appears to be The Cyclopedia of Medicine, Surgery and Specialties volume 3. The site that lists the copies pictured below yields the following: Published Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company, 1949, 5th edition. Additional information can be found here.
Image: ebth.com
When Donna returns to Harold's house near the end of episode ten, there is a yellow book near the door whose title is barely legible. So often, when attempting to identify titles, I work on intuition, hoping that the words I copy from blurred images will be attached to a book. Prior to this, I'm ashamed to admit I had never heard of the 1962 John Steinbeck novel Travels With Charley, though that is the title that made itself known to me.
A regular screencapture taken on my laptop.
Picture taken while playing a Blu-Ray on a 4k TV.
This copy on eBay has a darker level of yellowing than others, better matching the book in Harold's home.
If you look closely at the photo taken from the Blu-Ray, you can see dark lettering, which seems to match the spine of the Steinbeck novel.
The title is more easily read in motion. I ask those who care to check their Blu-Rays.
We can see some books beneath a side table as Donna begins her second session in episode 12 (2.005, The Orchid's Curse).
Watching the scene on the 4K player and looking at the image upside down, I was able to make out the title of one book. I am fairly certain it's Human Sexuality: New Directions in American Catholic Thought: A Study.
There are not many pictures of the book online. The Image below is from its Amazon.com listing.
A seller on eBay has a collection of books available in a listing. The spine of the book can be seen in this cropped image:
Photo: eBay
Another title I can make out is Medical and Health Annual. The full title is Encyclopedia Britannica Medical and Health Annual. The title is more easily read on the Blu-Ray.
Harold had two copies from the book series, but I cannot read their dates. A seller has a set of three listed on eBay. The blue book beside the two annuals is a 1963 biology book, as shared with Twin Peaks Blog.
Photo: eBay
When James arrives in episode 13 (2.006, Demons), Harold is pushed against the wall as James hastens to remove Maddy and Donna from the house. Pausing the video, I was able to make out two words on two books: Nelson and Surgery. I can't read the volume numbers, but I can read the words "Research Literature" on the bottom of one of their spines. Searching Google with the words "Nelson Surgery Book" I found one volume on eBay. The book series is known as Nelson New Loose-Leaf Surgery. The copy listed on eBay is not the copy Harold had, but is from the same family of volumes.
Image: eBay
When Harold confronts Donna and Maddy in episode 13 (Demons, 2.006), the distinctive spine of a book can be seen. I believe it is a copy of Readers Digest Condensed Books. It is hard to say which edition it is as the books were released over many years. The book is upside down on his shelf.
Photos courtesy of eBay.
The black and white copy appears to be the book in question. The image above is the 1964 edition.
The red book below can be seen in episode 12 (2.005, The Orchid's Curse). A clearer image brought forward its text and the small logo on its side.
Image courtesy of eBay user Righty4
Images from Thriftbooks.
One title has clear lettering but can't be made out in full. I typed the few letters I could identify into a search engine and eventually
found the book Applied Numerical Methods by authors Brice Carnahan,
H.A. Luther, and James O'Wilkes.
Appl
Photos: eBay seller kprar-63
Other titles I am unable to identify but can vaguely discern are as follows:
The brown/copper book in the image above, beside the Science Year book, has writing on its cover, but I cannot read it. The spine reads, '1967'. There is a white book next to it whose title begins with The Big.
Harold's shelf in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me hosts the titles of new books. Three of these have already been identified in Twin Peaks Blog's post concerning Harold's books, Radwaste, Night Falls on the City and Tumors of Bone. Circled is what may be the same copy of Science Year as seen in the television series. It is from the 1970s, though the exact year is indiscernible. There is a book with the word "Promises" in its title. There is another that has "Year Book" in its name.
The other books I found and shared with Mr. Miller include the following:
I strongly recommend reading Twin Peaks Blog's post that details the books in Harold's apartment. If it were not for Mr. Miller's decision to document this subject, I would not have seen reason to share my findings.
At least three books from Harold's apartment appear in a library Audrey visits in episode 25 (The Condemned Woman, 2.016).
Harold's shelf in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me hosts the titles of new books. Three of these have already been identified in Twin Peaks Blog's post concerning Harold's books, Radwaste, Night Falls on the City and Tumors of Bone. Circled is what may be the same copy of Science Year as seen in the television series. It is from the 1970s, though the exact year is indiscernible. There is a book with the word "Promises" in its title. There is another that has "Year Book" in its name.
The circled book's bold print title reads The Earth.
1. This book might have the word Organized in its title. It looks like
the first word starts with O. The second word might start with
a U.
2. This book appears to have the word Wilderness in its title.
3. These books seem to say Volume followed by (possibly) 137 & 136. The first is indecipherable. They appear to have the dates 1973, 1970 and 1976 or 75.
2. This book appears to have the word Wilderness in its title.
3. These books seem to say Volume followed by (possibly) 137 & 136. The first is indecipherable. They appear to have the dates 1973, 1970 and 1976 or 75.
. A 1948 book titled Tumors of Bone by Charles F. Geschickter, MD and Murray M. Copeland.
. A 1963 biology book.
. The Complete Book of Running by James F. Fixx.
. The Complete Book of Running by James F. Fixx.
The Complete Book of Running recently appeared in a local Little Library box.
I strongly recommend reading Twin Peaks Blog's post that details the books in Harold's apartment. If it were not for Mr. Miller's decision to document this subject, I would not have seen reason to share my findings.
Though many of these books undoubtedly make appearances elsewhere in the series, I'd like to pretend some titles were specifically chosen for Harold's apartment. There are many books whose focus is on nature and the outside world. Lenny Von Dohlen, the actor who portrayed Harold, told Wrapped in Plastic Magazine that he saw Harold as having many phobias. Who is to say the many medical books in Harold's apartment were not added to the set because of their connection with the character?
At least three books from Harold's apartment appear in a library Audrey visits in episode 25 (The Condemned Woman, 2.016).
Behind Windom Earle, the green book with the title The Earth can be seen.
Near Audrey, a book identified on Twinpeaksblog.com is visible, The Wars of America by Robert Leckie.
When Audrey makes to leave, we can see another title, John Steinbeck's Travels With Charley.
I will continue to add to this post if I am able to decipher other titles or find them at other locations in the series.
Very neat to see all of the books you've been able to spot so far. Twin Peaks endlessly fascinates with the amount of detail in its scenes. Always so dense with so much to unpack.
ReplyDeleteI saw your post on Twitter and decided to give your blog a read, and I'm certainly enjoying all of it. You've earned yourself a fan and another reader!
Wow. Nice to see the detailed analysis. Glad you reached out for more exposure. Good stuff. Maybe any analysis from Dale Coopers diary? I didn't even know it existed before my wife made me aware of it & as so much emphasis is given to Laura's. I found his diary to be extremely interesting.
ReplyDelete