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.
Leipzig: Schreibers Erben, (1864). (30)ff., printed one side only. Lithographed from engravings. With portrait frontispiece, four full-page illustrations, and a small headpiece for each month showing a seasonal scene. With a few light smudges, else fine in printed orange wrappers. (See Welsh 6580-86). (1 15/16 by 1 1/2; 48x37mm). More
Leipzig: Schreibers Erben, (1827). (30)ff., printed one side only. Completely engraved. With a frontispiece, a double-page idyllic landscape, and twelve headpieces showing the activities of each month. Bound in the original yellow wrappers, which are faintly printed in red. Notations in an early hand, else a fine copy, and quite... More
Zuilichem: Catharijne Press, 1997. 47pp. From an edition of 190, this is one of fifteen special edition copies. Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Morris. Twelve full-color plates are tipped in, showing wallpaper patterns designed by Morris from 1864-1897. Includes an Introduction by Guus Thürkôw. The special edition comes with... More
Utrecht: Catharijne Press, 1988. (38)pp. One of 150 copies, hand-colored by Luce Thürkôw. The Art Nouveau initials of this alphabet book are surrounded by floral designs in pastel colors. Fine in full green limp suede, with a gilt-stamped label on the front cover. Bookplate of former owner. (2 1/2 by... More
Utrecht: Catharijne Press, 1988. (34)pp. From an edition of 165 copies, this is one of fifteen deluxe copies hand-colored by Luce Thürków and with the Art Nouveau initials beautifully heightened with gold. Extremely fine in full green limp suede with gilt-stamped label on the front cover. Housed in original green... More
![The History of Reynard the Fox [The Tormenting of Tibert]. Christopher Harrisson, trans.](/pictures/thumb/27378.JPG?v=1493395954)
Zuilichem: Catharijne Press, 1991. 56pp. One of 175 standard copies. Wood engraved frontispiece by Pam Rueter, signed and numbered by the artist. Excerpts from four early texts, including Caxton's, with an introduction by E. Verzandvoort, which tells the printing history. Fine in red-brown cloth with printed label. (2 5/8 by 2; 66x51mm). More
![The History of Reynard the Fox [The Tormenting of Tibert]. Christopher Harrisson, trans.](/pictures/thumb/27396.JPG?v=1488320862)
Zuilichem: Catharijne Press, 1991. 56pp. From an edition of 190 copies, this is one of fifteen deluxe copies with an extra wood engraving. Frontispiece engraving by Pam Rueter, signed and numbered by the artist. Extra engraving also signed and numbered, and held in a mat in a separate cloth bi-fold... More
Zuilichem: Catharijne Press, 1995. 58pp. From a total edition of 190, this is one of fifteen special edition copies. Illustrated with a portrait of Anne Frank as the frontispiece. The special edition is bound in full red morocco, gilt-stamped with Anne Frank's signature and with a 14 carat gold plated... More
Utrecht, The Netherlands: Catharijne Press, 1984. 20pp. One of 100 copies, with an artistic photogravure frontispiece by Johan de Zoete, which is signed and numbered. The two poems are "To Helen," and "Annabel Lee." Extremely fine oblong miniature; the first published by Catharijne Press. Bound in black morocco with a.... More
Zuilichem: Catharijne Press, 1995. 58pp. From a total edition of 190, this is one of fifteen special edition copies. Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Captain Lemuel Gulliver and a map showing the location of Lilliput, by Arne Zuidhoek. Includes an Introduction by Richard Sympson. The text is Chapter 1... More
(Utrecht: Catharijne Press, 1986). (32)pp. From an edition of 165, this is one of fifteen copies printed on specially selected vellum. The text is printed by Hans Hartzheim in four colors after a calligraphed original by Dutch painter Johannes Hendrikus Moesman. Bound by Luce Thürkôw in full vellum with black... More
(Los Angeles): William Cheney, 1975. (30)ff. The famous verse from "A Apple Pie, B Bit It, C Cut It," etc. is illustrated with large calligraphic-style letters in this micro-miniature book. It is the smallest book printed in California and was executed by William Cheney for Dawson's Book Shop. A very... More
(N.p.): Cherub Press, 1987. (8) ff., frenchfold. One of 100 copies. The legend of the creation of woman, printed on Rakusai paper toned in several colors, and with a hand-colored frontispiece by Kim Butcher. Sewn oriental-style into pale blue wrappers, and housed in a slipcase. Mint. (2 3/4 by 2 3/8; 70x61mm.). More
N.p. D'Ambrosio, Joseph, 2003. 13pp. One of fifty copies, signed by the printer, Joe D'Ambrosio. A clever story playing on the many names and uses for potatoes. The tale follows Yam, the Sweet Potato daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Potato, as she is warned about the many hazards of life... More
Santa Ana: Gold Stein Press, 1985. 22ff. One of 75 copies signed by Bradbury, and by D'Ambrosio, who designed, printed, and bound the book. Illustrated throughout with embossed images and serigraphs, over which some of the poems are printed. Bound in full gray morocco with a silver foil inset, which... 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
Los Angeles: Dawson's Book Shop, 1972. 51pp. One of 200 copies. Illustrated throughout with black & white line drawings by Herschel C. Logan, the author/artist, which accompany words of wisdom from Logan's comic creation, the Colonel. Fine in brown cloth boards. With the miniature bookplate of Jim Lewis. (2 3/8 by 2; 61x51mm). More
Los Angeles: Plantin Press for Dawson's Book Shop, 1963. 32pp. Finely printed by Saul and Lillian Marks for Dawson's Book Shop, with color illustrations by Irene Robinson. Very fine in cloth-backed boards decorated by Bela Blau. (Bradbury p. 61). (2 by 1 9/16; 50x40mm). More
(Shaker Heights, OH): Wind and Harlot Press, 1986. 12pp. One of twenty-three copies. Keats's ballad of a knight wooed by a beautiful and wild "faery's child" and then abandoned by her, haggard and pale, on the cold hillside. In a designer binding by Paul Delrue depicting the setting at the... More
NY: Abrams and the Grolier Club, (2007). Small quarto. 215pp. One of 250 deluxe copies, of which 200 were for sale, signed by the authors, Anne C. Bromer and Julian I. Edison, and including a facsimile of the book in miniature format. This unique set features a remarkable pair of... More
London: Chapman & Hall, 1904. 368pp. The second in Dickens' series of five "Christmas books", in which a man, guided to a church by the sound of bells, receives moral instruction from the goblin bell-ringers. Bound in full red morocco with gilt spine title. Slight cracking along spine and some... More
Paris: Didot, Firmin, (c. 1835). 80pp. A beautiful children's prayer book, illustrated with five engraved plates and an engraved title page. The plates depict scenes from the life of Christ to inspire fervent young readers. These were put out over time in various bindings, but this copy is bound in... More
Paris: Didot, Henri, 1827. 96pp. This is the first volume to be printed with Didot's 2 1/2 point microscopic type, which was the smallest produced to that date and is noted for its beauty and clarity. Bound in contemporary polished brown morocco with gilt-tooled decoration on both covers and an... More
Paris: A. Mesnier, 1828. 229 pp. One of 100 copies, according to Holden. A stunning copy of Horace's works, in original wrappers. Printed by Didot the Younger, this is the second book using the remarkable 2 1/2 point type cut by Henri Didot the Elder, using the polyamatype method he... More
(c. 1998). 7pp., accordion-fold. Personalized miniature book sent to Anne and David Bromer by French artist Bertrand Dorny. Dorny and his wife, Anne Walker, a fellow book artist who grew up around Boston, share a studio in Paris. Dorny and Walker and the Bromers were friends for many years, bonding... More
