The Phaidon Archive Of Graphic Design is, according to its publisher, "an unparalleled resource of the world's very best specimens of graphic design." Not a book in the traditional sense (though it does include a bound index), the Archive is a box containing 500 loose cards, each of which represents a key example of graphic design from the past 500 years. Each card contains a full-page reproduction on one side, with a short essay and other illustrations on the reverse.
As the Archive weighs 13kg, it's supplied with removable handles. There are several excellent narrative histories of graphic design (
Meggs' History Of Graphic Design,
Graphic Design: A New History, and
Graphic Design Before Graphic Designers), though the Archive is a unique and comprehensive collection of iconic graphic designs.
