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.
Worcester, MA: St. Onge, Achille J., 1966. 36pp. Second edition. One of 1,000 copies. With a black and white frontispiece portrait of Paul Revere, which is a reproduction of the painting by John Singleton Copley at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Introduction by Esther Forbes. Fine in full..... More
Worcester, MA: St. Onge, Achille J., 1959. 38pp. One of 2,000 copies. With a one-cent stamp of Lincoln tipped in as a frontispiece. Very fine in full rust-colored morocco lettered and decorated in gilt on the front cover. A.e.g. Laid in are the prospectus and a newspaper clipping from The..... More
Worcester: Achille J. St. Onge, 1973. 23pp. First edition. One of 500 copies. Two elegies on one poet by another, written during the 1830s, while Swinburne was at Oxford, and found in his undergraduate notebook. Extremely fine in gilt-stamped red morocco. A.e.g. (2 11/16 by 1 7/8; 68x47mm). More
Worcester, MA: St. Onge, Achille J., 1956. 95pp. One of 950 copies designed by Bruce Rogers. Thoreau's well-known essay on the varieties, habitats, and habits of wild apples and crabapples. One of the most sought after of St. Onge's publications, and one of only two miniature books designed by Bruce..... More
Worcester: St. Onge, Achille J., 1975. 65pp. One of 1,500 copies. With the 1969 U.S. postage stamp honoring California's Bicentennial tipped-in as a frontispiece. Illustrated with numerous black & white reproductions of postage stamps. Extremely fine in gilt-stamped blue leather. A.e.g. (3 5/16 by 2 1/4; 84x58mm). More
Worcester: St. Onge, Achille J., 1975. 65pp. One of 1,500 copies. With the 1969 U.S. postage stamp honoring California's Bicentennial tipped-in as a frontispiece. Illustrated with numerous black & white reproductions of postage stamps. Extremely fine in gilt-stamped blue leather. A.e.g. (3 5/16 by 2 1/4; 84x58mm). More
Worcester: St. Onge, Achille J., 1975. 65pp. One of 1,500 copies. With the 1969 U.S. postage stamp honoring California's Bicentennial tipped-in as a frontispiece. Illustrated with numerous black & white reproductions of postage stamps. Extremely fine in gilt-stamped blue leather. A.e.g. (3 5/16 by 2 1/4 in.; 84x58mm). More
Worcester: St. Onge, Achille J., 1975. 65pp. One of 1,500 copies, with a 1969 U.S. postage stamp honoring California's Bicentennial tipped-in as a frontispiece. Illustrated with numerous black & white reproductions of postage stamps. Extremely fine in gilt-stamped blue leather. A.e.g. Bookplate (3 5/16 by 2 1/4; 84x58mm). More
Worcester: St. Onge, Achille J., 1975. 26pp. One of 300 copies, making this one of the rarer St. Onge titles. This copy includes an ALs dated May 30, 1975 from St. Onge to bookseller Robert Merriam explaining the limitation and price of this particular title. Portrait frontispiece tipped in to..... More
(Austin, TX): Tarantula Press, 1985. (6)pp. bound accordion fold. An absurd tale of a young boy's mishandling of a stray dog. Fine in paper wrappers. More
(Bangor: Tatlin Books, 1996). (12)ff. A prayer for safety on the way, with subtle decorations in color. The first eight pages unfold to show a wheel-like design. "Very little pagan influence can be seen in this poem, which seems more prayer than charm." A handsomely designed and printed book on..... More
Santa Cruz: Good Book Press, 1986. (19)pp. One of 200 copies. Four illustrations by Donna Thomas, printed in light brown. The text is a bedtime story by Peter Thomas and his daughter Tanya, in which Tanya visits her little sister Suzanne in the ICU with the help of a magic..... More
Santa Cruz, CA: Peter and Donna Thomas, 1990. From an edition of 200 copies, this is one of twenty-five deluxe copies with a miniature watercolor. The biography and footnotes to the text were written by Peter Thomas, and the illustrations were cut by Donna Thomas. Includes a seventeenth century paper..... More
(Exeter, NH): C. Norris & Co., 1812. 142pp. A charming thumb Bible with significant stories told in prose followed by supplements with references to verses. Bound in full brown leather with gilt decorations to spine and covers, including the monogram "E. L." to upper cover. Rear flyleaf torn and small..... More
NY: Hurst & Company, (c. 1880). 192pp. Twenty-five engravings—one frontispiece and each of the remaining twenty-four introducing a chapter—depicting significant scenes from the Bible. Among them appear Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Pharaoh being swallowed up in the Red Sea, and Peter's denial of Christ. The volume..... More
Hage: A. de Groot en Zoonen, 1750. 80pp. First edition. Illustrated with seven full-page engravings. Title, headers, and tailpieces printed in red. This miniature Dutch thumb bible, a fine example of the skilled craftsmanship of the de Groot family of printers, consists of a selection of six short Bible stories..... More
Philadelphia: Conrad Zentler, 1811. (vi), 106pp. Engraved frontispiece, plus nine further engravings, each depicting biblical scenes, such as the ascension of Elijah and the birth of Christ. A famous Thumb Bible; according to Bradbury, the first foreign religious miniature book printed in America. Originally bound in red leather, this copy..... More
London: Tho. James, (c. 1700). The presence of the woodcut frontispiece portrait of the Duke of Gloucester makes this the first illustrated Thumb Bible. It precedes the dated edition of 1701 and is not recorded in Adomeit. This is the first James printing (before which the printer was alive) with..... More
London: Tilt & Bogue, (c. 1835). 191pp. Contains forty-eight wood engravings illustrating Aesop's fables, including two portraits of Aesop himself. Bondy writes of the Tilt's Handbooks series "their apparently everlasting popularity has resulted in making it increasingly difficult to find complete copies of these pleasing little volumes." Bound in full..... 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
Brooklyn: Traders Press, 1969. 29pp. One of 500 copies. An essay on the history of miniature books and small types, together with a short biography of DeVinne by Jack Levien. With samples of small types and whimsical illustrations by Levien. A reprint of an important essay by the designer of..... More
(Marlboro, VT: Tasha Tudor, n.d.). Handmade card rosily painted with a winged mouse bravely, if meekly, extending a heart to the reader, while ringed in a lilac heart-shaped wreath. The mouse's offering is no coincidence; the interior of the card reads, "Valentine greetings, with love, from the mice at 54,"..... More
Boston: Bromer, Anne & David, 1984. 14pp. First edition of Clemens' humorous contribution to an autograph book presented to Mrs. Grover Cleveland in 1889. From an edition of 200 copies, this is one of fifty deluxe copies bound in full leather by Barbara Blumenthal and with hand-colored illustrations by Rez'..... More
(San Diego): Twin Heart Press, 1993. (32)pp., frenchfold. One of 100 copies. A sweetly illustrated compendium of holiday recipes for cakes, loaves, roasted nuts, and the like. Bound in paper over boards with dust wrapper illustrated in imitation of lace. Some staining to wrapper, else near fine. (1 13/16 by..... More
Boston: Urbino, S. R., 1864. 69pp. Part of a rare series of American miniature children's books published by Urbino in 1864. In blind-stamped red boards with title in gilt on the spine. Starting between endpaper and title page, occasional spotting to interior, else near fine. (Welsh 6883; Bondy, p. 73)..... More
