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.
San Rafael, CA: Feathered Serpent Press, 1985. (40)pp. From an edition of 175, this is one of 50 deluxe copies with an extra suite of nine etchings. A humorous etymology exploring the history and word-play of the word "bag." Illustrated throughout with hand-colored drawings by Weiss. Bound in tan leather... More about The Bag Book
Oxford: University Press, 1838. Two near-miniature volumes. Unpaginated. Concealed under the gilt fore-edges of the two volumes are beautifully executed paintings by Martin Frost. The fore-edge painting on the first volume, which contains the Old Testament, depicts the Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest. Built in the Moorish Revival style in..... More about The Holy Bible
Paris: P. Blanchard, 1810. 189pp. Engraved frontispiece, depicting the Virgin Mary nurturing two young children, and an engraved title page, showing a young boy dressed in a tunic and praying in a garden. A charming volume replete with prayers for all situations and events, including days of the week and... More about Prieres de L'Enfance
Worcester, MA: Achille J. St. Onge, 1973. 55pp. The text is printed with large ornamental initials in red by Joh. Enschedé en Zonen. In a striking designer binding by Stephen Conway, evoking ancient wood and stone. Conway writes that his bindings "have a tactile quality, in keeping with the three... More about The Sermon on the Mount from the Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapters 5, 6, 7
Boston: Anne & David Bromer, 1989. (32)ff. This Gorey rarity features a one-of-a-kind designer binding by Gabrielle Fox, one of the leading artisans in binding and conservation. Signed by Fox and the artist, Edward Gorey. With twenty-nine illustrations accompanied by rhyming couplets, Q.R.V is an homage to Isaac Watts, and..... More about Q.R.V
Wakefield: Fleece Press, 1988. (35)pp. One of 240 copies. With specimens of Morrison's types printed in various colors. Fine in yellow and white striped cloth, with printed label to front cover. Housed in blue cloth-covered slipcase. Bookplate of former owner. (2 1/2 by 1 7/8; 66x49mm). More about Stanley Morison: Man of Letters
NY: Merrimack Publishing Corporation, (c. 1974). (30)ff. The book follows a goat climbing up and down a ladder. It is one of a series of five similar publications produced by the Merrimack Publishing Corporation, each depicting a different action. Rear publication information states that the volume was printed in Hong... More about Old Fashioned Animated Flip Book
Northridge, CA: Lord John Press, 1981. 29pp. One of 400 copies, signed by President Gerald R. Ford. The text is an address given to the Visa International Convention in Quebec, in September 1980, in which Ford advocates for world peace for economic purposes. He was the only president to collaborate... More about Global Stability
Northridge, CA: Lord John Press, 1981. 29 pp. From an edition of 400, this is one of 100 copies specially bound by Bela Blau. Signed by President Gerald R. Ford. The text of a September 1980 address given to the Visa International Convention in Quebec encouraging world peace for economic... More about Global Stability
London: Henry Frowde, (c. 1905). 584pp. With a portrait of Oliver Goldsmith as frontispiece. "A handsome edition on thin paper." With pink marbled endpapers. Fine in red morocco, gilt on spine and panels. A.e.g. (Welsh 3103; Spielmann 171; AAS 149). (2 3/16 by 1 7/8; 55x47mm). More about The Vicar of Wakefield
(N.p. c. 1922). Set of eight cards, printed in red, along with a rules sheet. The cards form a drinking game; all are dealt to a group of eight, and each player must follow the pictorial instruction on the card placed before them. Five cards show a single cocktail, indicating... More about Game of D.W. Griffith's "One Exciting Night"
N.p. Garcia de Fuentes Press, n.d. 12ff. One of 200 copies. Illustrated with color images throughout. Bound in printed mylar over wrappers. Fine. (2 3/4 by 2; 70x51mm). More about Recuerdo de mi Primera Comunión [I remember my first communion
Tustin, CA: Garden View Press, (1969). 57pp., frenchfold One of 200 copies with color illustrations by Warren Batchelder. "Kwaidan," in Japanese, means "weird, haunting tales," and the two stories included tell the tales of a ghostly, shape-shifting priest and a mysterious woman, dressed in white, encountered in a snowstorm. Stab-sewn... More about Kwaidan: Jikininki, Yuki-Onna. Two Japanese Fairy Tales
(Amsterdam: Alice Garman, 1971). (44)ff. One of 250 copies. Stevenson's delightfully amusing reasons for vetoing a bill passed by the Illinois State Legislature that would have required cats to be leashed. Printed from the calligraphy of Alice Garman and illustrated by her. Garman was a renowned artist and the wife... More about Adlai Stevenson's Veto 1949
Paisley, Scotland: Gleniffer Press, 1978. (28)ff. One of 500 copies. With portraits of Robert Burns and others. Between these are highlights of Burns' compendium of work, including "To a Mouse" and "Address to a Haggis". Pictorial endpapers and printed boards. Fine in a fine pictorial dust wrapper. Bookplate of former... More about The Wit of Burns
(N.p.): 1976. Three volumes. 22pp.; (14)ff.; (16)ff. With hand-colored illustrations by Amanda Goldman. The first title contains pictures of columbine, water lily, larkspur, and other species. The second volume features vibrant renditions of the chickadee, owl, and other birds. Dolls and Doll Houses is separated into two parts, representing the... More about Wild Flowers of America. Together with Birds of America and Dolls and Doll Houses
(London): Goode Bros. c. 1875. (47)pp. Illustrated throughout with black & white lithographs, this little book includes excerpts from several Old Testament stories. In dark violet gilt-stamped wrappers. An unusually fine copy. (Bondy 162). (2 1/4 by 1 5/8; 58x40mm.). More about The Illustrated Bible; also Verses entitled Railway to Heaven
(Berkeley): Rasmussen Press, 1974. 81pp. One of 200 copies, this one being an unnumbered gift edition inscribed "To Doris- In memory of K.G." Illustrated with five sets of verses and drawings compiled by Lucile Rasmussen from those published in the Ladies' Home Journal, which were never published in book form... More about Drawings by Kate Greenaway, Verses by Laura E. Richards. From Ladies' Home Journal, 1895 and 1896
Tilton, NH: Hillside Press, 1974. 38pp. One of 250 copies. Illustrated with numerous photo-engravings surrounded by keen numismatic analysis of colonial currency's forms and functions. Very fine in yellow cloth. (2 5/16 by 1 15/16; 59x50mm). More about Colonial Coins
Franklin, NH: Hillside Press, 1963. 28pp. One of 325 copies. Dee was an astrologer, book collector, and mathematician, and a friend of Elizabeth I. Fine in cloth-backed decorated boards. (2 5/16 by 1 15/16; 58x47mm). More about Diary of John Dee
Franklin, NH: Hillside Press, 1968. xi, 42pp. One of 250 copies. Illustrated throughout with woodcuts replicated from seventeenth-century originals. Very fine in gilt-stamped black morocco. (2 5/16 by 2; 58x51mm). More about The Famous History of Tom Thumb
Franklin, NH: Hillside Press, 1967. 44pp. One of 375 copies. Contains ten reproductions of illustrations by Kate Greenaway and an introduction on the history of nursery rhymes. Fine in orange pictorial cloth. (Bradbury, p. 94). (2 1/4 by 1 15/16; 57x49mm). More about Nursery Rhymes
Franklin, NH: Hillside Press, 1968. x, 46pp. One of 250 copies. With several full-page illustrations of fantastic monsters, human heroes, and anthropomorphic characters. Bound in pale green cloth with decoration to upper cover in black. Partially unopened. Near fine. (2 7/16 by 2; 60x50mm). More about Wedding of the Foxes. Japanese Fables and Fantasy
Tilton, NH: Hillside Press, 1974. xvii, 40pp. One of 250 copies. The Caxton translation of 1484 is used, and eight of Caxton's original woodcuts of that edition are reproduced here. With a preface on Caxton and his work. Fine in orange cloth boards printed with Caxton's insignia. (2 3/8 by 2; 60x50mm). More about Aesop's Fables
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 1/4 by 2; 59x51mm). More about Bewick's Select Fables
