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.
Franklin, NH: Hillside Press, 1965. xvi, 50pp. One of 375 copies. A collection of Aesop's fables with engraved illustrations of the original woodcuts by Thomas Bewick. A fine copy in blue cloth with a yellow illustrated dust wrapper, which is signifiantly torn at the rear side. (Bradbury, p. 94). (2..... More
Roswell: Hillside Press, 1983. xi, 58pp. One of 300 copies signed by the printer, Eleanor Irwin. With three illustrations, and hand-colored initials and fleur-de-lis on title page. The Introduction is by Richard F. Ellis. Very fine in dark blue leather. (Bradbury, p. 96). (2 1/2 by 2; 65x52mm). More
Buffalo: Hillside Press, 1982. 50pp. One of 350 copies signed by the author and printer, Eleanor Irwin. Slight skew to spine, else near fine in red, gilt-stamped leather. (2 7/16 by 2 1/16; 62x51mm). More
Franklin, NH: Hillside Press, 1964. ix,74 pp. One of 375 copies, signed by Irwin. An analysis of Nostradamus' famous foresight, with contemporary verses and texts added. Fine with illustrated dust wrapper, shabby at edges, featuring an image by William Blake. (Welsh 5298). (2 3/8 by 2; 60x51mm). More
Buffalo: Hillside Press, 1978. 62pp. One of 275 copies, signed by the author/printer, Frank Irwin. Illustrated with reproductions of woodcuts and engravings from the fifteenth century onward. Fine in pictorial tan cloth. (2 1/4 by 2; 60x50mm). More
Tilton, NH: Hillside Press, 1976. ix, 60pp. One of 300 copies. With occasional black-and-white illustration, a collection of notes bearing on existential philosophy, mysticism, Zen Buddhism, and books. Bound in gray-blue leatherette over boards with gilt decoration. Fine. (2 5/16 by 2; 59x51mm). More
Buffalo, NY: Hillside Press, 1979. 42pp. One of 250 copies. Illustrated throughout in black & white with examples of heraldic bookplates from the fifteenth century onward, including that of George Washington. Fine in pictorial orange cloth. (2 1/4 by 1 7/8; 58x49mm). More
Tilton, NH: Hillside Press, 1976. 51pp. One of 250 copies. Illustrated throughout with printer's marks from presses, both early and modern. Fine in yellow cloth, printed in black. Bookplate. (Bradbury p. 95). (2 5/16 by 2; 58x49mm). More
Tilton, NH: Hillside Press, 1976. 51pp. One of 250 copies. Illustrated throughout with printer's marks from presses, both early and modern. Fine in yellow cloth, printed in black. Bookplate. (2 5/16 by 2 in.; 58 x 49 mm). (Bradbury p. 95). More
Franklin, NH: Hillside Press, 1961. 52pp. Limited to 350 copies handset, printed and signed by the author. Clever antic verses about all manner of things including "The Bookseller." A fine copy of the first book of the Press, in cloth-backed patterned boards with a printed paper label. (2 5/16 by..... More
Tilton, NH: Hillside Press, 1971. xix, 51pp. One of 350 copies. Illustrated with twenty-five full-page woodcuts and other illustrations. Contains a preface by Robert E. Massmann. Fine in green, gilt-stamped cloth. Bookplate. (Bradbury, p. 95). (2 3/8 by 2; 61x51mm). More
Tilton, NH: Hillside Press, 1975. xxiv, 92pp. One of 250 copies. With frontispiece portrait and vignette of Monticello. Fine in gilt-titled red leather. (2 3/8 by 2; 60x50mm). More
Buffalo: Hillside Press, 1979. 39pp. One of 225 copies. The 1898 version of the text, written for Clemens' autobiography. A very fine copy in pictorial cloth binding. (Bradbury, p. 96). (2 3/8 by 1 15/16; 60x49mm). More
Tilton, NH: Hillside Press, 1976. (103)pp. One of 250 copies signed by the publisher, Frank Irwin. Frontispiece uncancelled stamp of Copernicus. Spaces provided for affixing the appropriate stamps, which would include portraits of Catholic historical figures, from Columbus to Kennedy, predominate. Fine in green cloth boards. (2 3/8 by 2;..... More
Tokyo: Bijou Book Hoshino, 1979. 104; 88pp. Text in English and Japanese, with each language separately paginated. One of 150 copies. Illustrated with a two-page map of New Guinea, printed in green, and with chapter title pages printed in green and black. An account of an unlikely friendship made while..... More
Tokyo: Bijou Book Hoshino, 1983. (42)ff. One of 150 copies. A charming exposition on the collection of miniature books. Fine in green morocco with stamping in black, orange, and gold, with matching slipcase. T.e.g. (1 1/16 by 1 1/4; 28x32mm). More
San Diego, CA: Iron Bear Press, 2000. One of 50 copies, signed by Weintraub. Two volumes of fables, bound dos-a-dos. Fine in boards covered with gray and tan handmade paper. (3 by 2 3/8; 75x60mm). More
Newark, VT: Janus Press, (1996). 26ff. One of 200 copies signed by Claire Van Vliet, the designer, and Audrey Holden, the assembler. A miniature cut-out alphabet in an alternating accordionfold, made of overlapping and interlocked pieces of multicolored, figured, and textured papers, using the offcuts from one of Van Vliet's..... More
A nineteenth-century French solid gold enamel binding containing five bone leaves. First appearing around 1820, the carnets de bal were used to record the order of an evening's dances, as well as the name of the partner for a particular dance. This opulent example is decorated with a leaf border;..... More
Palm Beach Gardens: Kaycee Press, 1989. (65)pp. Limited to 200 copies printed by Ward Schori. This copy inscribed by the author. Humorous and sensitive poetry to the memory of his mother by one of the founders of the Miniature Book Society. Very fine in covers of dark blue with gilt-stamping..... More
(Turkey: c. 1875). 200ff. Complete, single column, with between thirty-eight and forty-one lines of miniature gold gubari per page. Surah headings in black against gold ribbon banners. The opening two pages of text feature illuminated blue, red, and white borders decorated with interlocking vinal circles, creating a mesmerizing array of..... More
Chicago: Le Petit Oiseau Press, 1968. 7pp. One of 150 copies. With a portrait frontispiece of Christ tipped in. Printed by Doris V. Welsh. Very fine in half blue cloth and yellow boards. (1 7/8 by 1 7/16; 47x36mm). More
Los Angeles: Dawson's Book Shop, 1991. 21pp. One of 60 copies printed by Pall Bohne for Dawson's Book Shop. With an engraved, illustrated leaf from an extremely rare two-volume picture-Bible, printed in The Hague by Daniel Langeweg, circa 1750. The original leaf is tipped in and contains a full-page wood..... More
Los Angeles: Dawson's Book Shop, 1980. 22pp. One of 125 copies, printed by William Cheney. With an original leaf from "The Bible in Miniature, or a Concise History of the Old and New Testament," the best-known and one of the smallest Thumb Bibles. It was published by Elizabeth Newbery, the..... More
(Stillwater, ME: Nancy Leavitt, 1993). (14)pp. One of twenty-six copies. A calligraphic manuscript using gouache and glair, written, designed, and bound by Nancy Leavitt. The letters of the alphabet are arranged into phrases about traveling. Presented in lively hues of orange, olive, violet, and periwinkle, the text is gracefully written..... More
