In their broadest sense, the book arts are at the core of our inventory. To be sure, the category encompasses the specialties that you see on our homepage, such as Fine Printing, Fine Binding, and Illustrated Books. However, it also includes such things as writing books and calligraphy, fore-edge paintings, books on papermaking, and leaf books.
Read more about one of the book arts, Fore-edge Painting
(Cambridge, MA): Houghton Library, 1994. Square octavo. (26)pp. One of 500 copies. Warmly inscribed by Lorenz to Anne & David Bromer. A catalogue for an exhibition of artist's books by Angela Lorenz held at Harvard University's Houghton Library in September 1994, featuring full-page photographs of the books and detailed descriptions... More
(1860). Handscroll. An elegant makimono-e painting in sumi ink and color wash on paper by 83-year-old artist Toshin. Handscrolls are meant to be viewed right to left in sections, traveling arms-length by arms-length through the continuous landscape. This painting takes the viewer through each of the four seasons in a.... More
(England): 1849. Octavo. 5ff. Verse manuscript with original watercolor illustrations, including a full-page cover title and title-page and sixteen vignettes throughout. The text tells the tale of Timothy Brown, who is introduced as "a wild little lad" who constantly tears his clothes and searches for ways to spend his days... More
(c. 1470). A single miniature manuscript leaf from a fifteenth-century Dutch or German Psalter executed in a miniscule gothic hand. The text of the recto includes the last three verses of Psalm 144 and the first three and a half verses of Psalm 145. The leaf contains eight initials executed... More
Paris: Marcilly, (c. 1830). 127pp. A beautiful little book of hours for young people, with engraved title and five plates, the most charming showing David dancing and playing his harp, as he leads the procession of the Ark. Contains the Order of the Mass and various services in French, and... More
![[Travel sketches by a steamboat passenger].](/pictures/thumb/28068.jpg?v=1529093682)
(Ramsgate: (c. 1900). Oblong 48mo. (36)ff. Illustrated with thirty-six fine and accomplished pen-and-ink sketches by W.G. Bayly. The sketches provide a unique glimpse into Bayly's round-trip journey from Ramsgate to the Cape of St. Vincent, Port Said, Aden, the Bay of Biscay, Yangon, and finally Colombo in Sri Lanka. At... More
(Tokyo: Toppan Printing Co., 2000). (16)pp. Two volumes. According to the accompanying prospectus, this ultra-micro miniature containing the Chinese zodiac was the 2000 Guinness World Records holder for the smallest precision-printed book in the world, measuring a mere .95mm square. Remarkably, each page of this speck of a book bears... More
(Dutch: 18th century). Five bifolium sheets, each measuring approximately 7 5/8 by 10 3/4 inches. All contain images of Biblical scenes, composed of miniature writing known as micrography. The images, therefore, are composed of the words from the Biblical passages that describe the action being depicted. Four of these images... More
N.p. (1845). Octavo. (26)ff. A manuscript alphabet book of calligraphic paintings, signed by the artist, Jean Midolle. Includes an elaborately decorated title page, twenty-four letters, and "Fin." A renowned nineteenth-century Swiss calligrapher and miniature-painter, Midolle executed his alphabets in the gothic style of lettering to resemble the text of a.... More
Japan: (1963). One sheet folded accordion-style, printed on one side only. Reportedly from a Buddhist Temple, this sheet features three different styles of Japanese text. Bound in red silk with gilt decorations. Housed in clear plastic case with gold letters and within paper covering with sauwastika (a left-facing swastika) and... More
Wellington, New Zealand: A.H. & A.W. Reed, 1962-1965. Lilliput Maori Proverbs, Lilliput Maori Place Names, and Illustrated Gospels in Maori. 526; 567; 559pp. All with illustrations throughout. The Proverbs and Place Names are reprinted from "regular" volumes at the time still in print. The Gospels is the first Lilliput edition... More
N.P. Miniature Book Society, 1988. Fine in printed wrappers. (2 7/8 by 2 7/8; 73x73mm). More
Boston & Vancouver: Bromer Booksellers & HM Editions, 2015. 72pp. From an edition of 120, this is one of thirty-five deluxe copies. Winner of the 2016 Miniature Book Society Competition Distinguished Book Award. Designed and printed at Heavenly Monkey, this lovely miniature memoir and bibliography contains stories of pleasure, coincidence... More
(New Britain, CT: Art Press), 1971. (16)pp., frenchfold. One of 50 copies. The Foreword by Massmann is signed by him. Hunter's account of the post-Civil War reuse of Egyptian mummies' wrappings by a Maine paper merchant is bound in stiff wrappers in the shape of a sarcophagus with the profile... More
(Newark, NJ: Caterteret Book Club, 1924). 16mo. (20)pp. One of 100 copies, printed on Swedish handmade paper for the members of the Carteret Book Club in December 1924. Contains remarks and descriptions of the items on display, arranged by type. In tan wrappers. Sewn into protective folio made of board... More
Boston: Bromer, Anne & David, 1987. Square 12mo. This collection of designer bindings was assembled over two years' time, commissioning bookbinding artists from around the globe. Fully described and illustrated with color photographs, this catalog is a valuable reference and visual record of the style and skill of each of... More
NY: Swann Galleries, 1990. Small quarto. 27pp. Auction catalogue from an important sale of miniature books from the collection of H. Marion Soliday, illustrated with black & white photographs. Also includes the Albert Cohen Collection of 19th-Century English Illustrated Books. Fine in printed wrappers. More
Stockholm: Sällskapet Bokvännerna, 1966. 16mo. 71pp. Bokvännens miniatyrserie 22. One of 700 copies. Black & white illustrations throughout. Swedish miniature book reference, including a bibliography. Bound in wrappers, with some edgewear and toning to spine; else about fine. More
Barcelona: Millà, (1950). Octavo. 58pp. One of 300 copies. Inscribed by the author. Illustrated with a full-color frontispiece depicting the printing and production of miniature books, as well as thirty black & white plates of miniature books, reproduced from pen drawings. A scarce reference book, in Catalan, on miniature books... More
Frankfurt am Main: Sonderdruck, 1978. Square 16mo. 44pp. "Aus dem Antiquariat" Nr. 2. One of 100 copies, illustrated throughout in black and white. Fine, in tan wrappers. More
Paris: Charavay Frères Editieurs, 1881. 12mo. 125pp. One of 250 copies. With descriptions of 400 items.This is a scarce reference book, much sought after by the serious collector of early miniature books, A few small smudges, but on the whole a fine copy in the original printed paper-covered wrappers. More
Chicago, Illinois: Lightner, (1943). Octavo. 329pp. First edition. Illustrated throughout with black & white photographs. A reference book on all things small, including doll houses and aircraft models, with a chapter on miniature books. Spine ends lightly bumped and a bit of yellowing to edges of text block. Fine, in... More
London: Edward Arnold, (1961). Octavo. 289pp. First edition. One of 500 copies. Illustrated with black & white photographs. Spielmann's useful catalogue is among the most important reference tools in the miniature book field. Bound in patterned, quarter-cloth boards, gilt-lettered to the spine. The dust wrapper is price-clipped, spine slightly toned... More
Storrs-Mansfield, CT: Maurizio Martino Publishers, (1995). Octavo. 289pp. Reprint edition. One of 150 copies. Illustrated with black & white photographs. Spielmann's useful catalogue is among the most important reference tools in the miniature book field. Bound in red cloth with gilt lettering to the spine. No dust jacket as issued... More
(Boston: Thomas Todd, 1932). 30pp. One of 250 copies. The illustration used for the frontispiece was loaned by Wilbur Macey Stone. A true miniature book about miniatures written by collectors whose tiny tomes were auctioned at Swann Galleries on November 15, 1990. Outer hinge lightly rubbed, light uniform fading to... More
