In this section you will find reproductions of books and articles relating to the development of Bodybuilding from the early, pre Sandow, days right through to the middle of the 20th Century. Books in this section will generally be more broad based in their content although they may contain some exercise material.

Books and courses relating more specifically to strength development, bodybuilding and muscle control can be found in the Golden Age of Iron Men section on this site.

All material relating to Eugen Sandow, including books written by him are to be found in the Sandow section.

Books and courses relating to Maxalding, Maxick and Monte Saldo, including Maxick's famous 'Muscle Control' are to be found on the Maxalding website.

	How to Get Strong and How to Stay So William Blaikie New York 1879 Contributed by Gordon Anderson		Professor Dowd's Original Health Exerciser (1878) The first man to produce a bodybuilding exerciser in America and his 3 year training experiment from 1878 to 1881 Contributed by Tony Holland
	A Natural Method of Physical Training Edwin Checkley 1894 Classic early handbook first published in 1890 Currently under construction		The Science & Art of Physical Development with Hints on the Sandow System W.R. Pope London 1902 Contributed by Gordon Anderson
	Muscles of the Body Published around 1947 by Link House - UK Contributed by John Digby Download here
There is much more material waiting to go into this section - please check back regularly