When you hold a miniature book in your hand, it is like holding a jewel. A miniature book is usually no bigger than three inches (76 millimeters) tall, and although some need magnification to be viewed properly, most can be read with the naked eye. Dating as far back as 2500 BCE, Sumerian clay tablets with cuneiform writing are considered the prototype for miniature books ...
Read more about Miniature Books
Our miniature books are listed below. You may also browse our miniature books by publisher or by century.
(Tarzana, CA): Barbara J. Raheb, 1999. (61)pp. One of 100 copies. Lavishly illustrated, and hand-colored in gold and jewel-like colors, with images and descriptions of creatures both real and mythical. Mint in full brown morocco, with gilt motif to upper cover and titles. (1 1/16 by 7/8; 28x22mm). More
(Tarzana, CA): Raheb, Barbara J., 1984. (28)pp. One of 300 copies signed by Barbara Raheb, who calligraphed and illustrated the text of what was a medieval illuminated manuscript. The borders of each page are colored gold. Bound in gilt-decorated black pyroxylin leather, with title in gilt to a red morocco..... More
(Hyattsville, MD): Rebecca Press, 1991. (18)ff. A special edition published to mark the birth of a daughter to the printer, Rebecca Bingham. Fine in blue and white handmade paper boards, with a birth announcement tipped-onto the front cover. (2 1/2 by 2 7/8; 63x74mm). More
London: Rock Bros. & Payne, (c. 1850). (32)ff. With an engraved frontispiece of Wellington Statue and thirty engraved views of London. Spine slightly rubbed, else fine in publisher's gilt-stamped limp leather wrappers. A.e.g. (Spielmann 58; Welsh 1283). (1 1/4 by 1; 31x26mm). More
Glasgow: David Bryce & Son, (1904). 64pp. An unusual oblong-format Bryce with page one containing both the title-page, printed in the plain text of the later issue, and the first page of the preface. Not sewn to create the double-page spreads as found in the first issue. Bound in finely..... More
Glasgow: David Bryce & Son, (1904). v, 59pp., as double-page spreads. The first edition of Bryce's Rubaiyat, here with the orientalist title page and sewn through the center of the text. Bound in finely gilt-stamped green calf, also in an orientalist style. Expected edgewear, fading to the binding, else near..... More
Niagara Falls: Carol Schwartzott, 1994. (14) pp. One of 20 copies, signed by Carol Schwartzott, the designer and binder. A hexagonal book with six bright hand-colored illustrations, bound in hexagonal boards with a hand-colored decoration reminiscent of Islamic tiles. Housed in a hexagonal wooden box, painted in black, gold, red..... More
Overland Park, KS: Scott Free Press, 1983. 32pp. One of 250 copies, signed by Duane C. Scott, the printer. With reproductions of some of the original illustrations for these famous stories. Trace rubbing, else near fine in full black leather with titles tooled in blue-green. (2 5/8 by 2 1/2;..... More
Glasgow & NY: David Bryce & Son, (1904). Forty volumes. Dedicated to the actress Ellen Terry, this complete set of Shakespeare was part of a series of literary sets or individual volumes dedicated to her. Of the Ellen Terry series, Louis Bondy wrote that these volumes are "Bryce's greatest achievement..... More
Mill Valley, CA: Sunflower Press, 1977. (16)ff. From an edition of 250 copies illustrated in color by Marcie Collin and printed by Carol Cunningham, this copy is in a designer binding by Sonya Sheats. Evoking the fierce battle between the Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat, the artist envisioned "a..... More
Charlestown, MA: Emporium Publications, (n.d.). (28)ff. One of 250 copies. Each letter of the alphabet accompanies an illustration of a Boston landmark, from "Aquarium" to "Zoo," by way of the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum and Quincy Market. Bound in full orange cloth lettered in gilt on the front cover, and..... More
(New Britain, CT: Massmann, Robert E., n.d.). (34)pp. From an edition of 300 copies, this is one of an unstated few produced as a scroll. On each panel, Sukie, a miniature French poodle, poses alongside a hand-colored letter. Scroll finished with a red dowel and red ribbon, and held in..... More
Tokyo: Toppan, 1979. Three micro-miniature volumes: Birth Stone, Language of the Flowers, and Zodiacal Signs. Together set into a leather-covered sleeve, which is then housed with a magnifier in a custom matching box, the lid of which has a red and blue design evocative of the red and blue covers..... More
Tokyo: Toppan Printing Co., (1965). This set includes two versions of the first chapter of the Book of Genesis: a micro-miniature book measuring 3/4 of an inch square and an ultra-micro-miniature measuring 4mm square. The micro-miniature contains 29 pages of text, including an explanation of the production of the accompanying..... More
(Tokyo: Toppan Printing Co., 1980). Two volumes: 10pp. each. The larger volume is 1/2-inch square and contains the full text of the Lord's Prayer. Bound in black cloth. The second volume is a micro-miniature, of the same, measuring 1.4 millimeters square, among the smallest miniature books in the world. Bound..... More
Paisley, Scotland: Gleniffer Press, 1985. (12)pp. One of 85 copies. This micro-miniature was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the "Smallest Book in the World" in 1985. The book was printed using offset lithographic methods, with the text area of each page being less than 1 square millimeter..... More
(N.p.): Design Concepts of America, 1977. Single microform sheet + (32)pp. The microform holds all 1245 pages of the Bible, at a reduction of 62,500 to 1. Part of a series of MicroJewel Presentation productions, and accompanied by a booklet that is both laudatory of the technological achievement of the..... More
Worcester, MA: Commonwealth Press, 1932. One of 250 copies. Known at the time as the smallest book in the world, this tiny book is part of a set, which includes a miniature edition of the book (1 3/4 by 1 1/2; 44x37mm), showing, in addition to the text, an explanatory..... More
(Leipzig): Edition Leipzig, 1971. (28)pp. Ultra-miniature ABC, accompanied by a trifold information booklet, which describes in German the book's production and contributors. Bound in a gilt-stamped leather binding, and housed in translucent sliding case, together with booklet inside cloth-covered box. Fine. (3x2.5mm). More
Dallas: Somesuch Press, 1979. xiv, 47pp. One of 395 copies, signed by David Holman, the printer. Printed in brown and black, with pictorial title. Foreword by Lon Tinkle. Extremely fine in cream leather, with gilt horse stamp and titling. (2 1/2 by 1 7/8; 65x46mm). More
Dallas: Somesuch Press, 1984. 69pp. One of 325 copies, signed by Dugald Stermer, who contributed several black and white line illustrations. Gustave Flaubert's brief tale of the "indolent and ridiculous" bookseller Giacomo, whose singular passion in life was books. Very fine in full red leather, with gilt design stamped on..... More
(Dallas): Somesuch Press, 1987. 143pp. One of 250 copies printed at the Meriden-Stinehour Press, signed by the author, Paul Horgan, and the printer, Stephen Stinehour. Illustrated throughout in sepia, and with a color frontispiece. A southwestern Christmas tale. Extremely fine in gilt-decorated red cloth. (Bradbury, p. 282). (2 5/8 by..... More
(Austin, TX: Somesuch Press, 1986). (22)ff. One of 200 copies, signed by the printer. With thirteen black & white illustrations by the artist Rockwell Kent. Originally published in 1922 in an edition of eight copies. This miniature book was composed and printed by eight-year-old Susannah Kent (no relation to the..... More
N.p. 2013. Silver locket enamelled with clover leaves in green and "Souvenir" on the front cover. The initials "A.B." and "Gilbh. 2013" are engraved inside. A bit tarnished, else near fine with jump ring intact. (3/4 by 7/16; 19x12mm). More
Worcester: St. Onge, Achille J., 1953. 77pp. One of 2,000 copies. Printed at the Chiswick Press in red and black type. With a black & white frontispiece portrait of the Queen. Bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe in full red morocco, with gilt stamping to covers including double-rule borders. Paste-downs and..... More
