Like a libidinous Willy Wonka, Pirelli has at last invited visitors into the rarefied pages of their supermodel-stuffed calendar. Once as celebrated for their exclusivity as for exotic beauty, the Pirelli is increasingly available through such great societal levelers as eBay and Amazon.com. Perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, Rizzoli International has compiled the annual objects of desire into a book heavy enough to splinter many a coffee table.  The 639-page Complete Pirelli Calendars ($85; available March 11) includes all 800 cardiac arrest-inducing photographs from 1964 through 2007, plus those from the never-before-released 1963 prototype.

The seductive waltz of model and photographer -- Christy Turlington, as seen through Richard Avedon's lens, for example -- provides each image with a sultry, tropical tension. (If these were films, you'd probably find them in the "Over 18" section.) In fiery color or suggestive black and white, often adorned with fantastical sets and costumes, the calendars capably captured the allure of models both contemporary and classic. Think of it as a four-decade long slide show from some of this century's most accomplished fantasy mongers -- now conveniently unencumbered by all those distracting dentist appointments you marked on the originals. --TIM DEVANE

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MVSTAT: Pirelli made a name for itself during the Peking to Paris race in 1907. It supplied tires to Prince Scipione Borghese, who won the 10,000 mile race in an Itala. The prize was a magnum of champagne...