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 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
Ada, Yugoslavia: Cultural Center, Ada, 1980. 152pp. + 22ff. plates, (6)pp. One of 1500 copies. A history of the Battle of Zenta (Senta) in English, Hungarian, and Croatian, followed by black & white plates illustrating various aspects of the battle and those involved. Fine in dark green leatherette, stamped in..... More
Paris: Chez Janet Libraire, (1806). 1-16, 1-24, 17-32pp., + (12)ff. engraved illustrations. Title page also engraved. This miniature almanac includes calendar tables for the year 1806 and a list of eclipses, as well as twelve short educational poems. Each of the rhyming poems, consisting of three stanzas of eight lines..... More
Albuquerque: Opuscala Press, 1999. 149pp. One of 75 copies. A playful and reflective bibliography, studded with color photoreproduction collages. Bound in full black cloth with gilt titling to upper cover and spine. Fine. (2 1/2 by 2 15/16; 64x74mm). 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
Glasgow: David Bryce & Son, (1889). 32ff., as double-page spreads. A selection of abridged and adapted excerpts from Thomas à Kempis' seminal devotional text, edited for Bryce by T. M. Lindsay. Text printed in black with border rule in red. Fine in boards covered with tartan silk, protected by original..... More
New Britain, CT: J. L. Kapica, 1964. 30pp. Frontispiece portrait of Kennedy. A collection of transcripts of eulogies for former President John F. Kennedy, delivered in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol, November 24, 1963. The eulogies were given by Mike Mansfield, Earl Warren, and John McCormack. Some rubbing..... More
Spartanburg, SC: Kitemaug Press, 1982. (20)pp. One of 150 copies. Printed oblong, in a format "vaguely reminiscent of the 19th century oblong songsters and hymnals." Here, such eminent carols as "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" and "Deck the Halls" are set opposite woodcut illustrations. Bound in plain green wrappers..... More
Spartanburg: Kitemaug Press, 1988. (20)ff. One of 100 copies. Fabrications about remarkable cats, illustrated with woodcuts. Fine in gray pictorial cloth. (1 15/16 by 1 9/16; 48x43mm). More
Los Angeles: Dawson's Book Shop, 1981. 21pp. One of 150 copies. Charles Lamb's Mr. H. here receives coy, yet noble, bibliographic detail. Bound in full green leather with gilt title to upper cover. Fine. (2 13/16 by 2 1/16; 72x52mm). More
(Rochester, NY): Leopard Studio Editions, 2014. (24)pp., accordion-fold, with two four-page inserts sewn in. One of five copies, signed and numbered by the artist. A miniature artist's book by Sue Huggins Leopard based on the poem by Emily Dickinson, which reads: "Love is anterior to life, / Posterior to death..... More
Enkhuizen, Holland: Jack R. Levien, 1971. (12)ff. One of 100 copies, inscribed by Levien with a hand-written colophon. A facsimile of a miniature book published by Jacques Meson in Anvers in 1667. The text is extracts from the Gospel of John. With frontispiece and illustrated title. Fine in green grosgrain..... More
Enkhuizen: Jack R. Levien, 1971. (14)ff. An abridged version of the New Testament story, illustrated with tiny reproductions of medieval woodcuts. Fine in full leather, with gilt fillets and a tiny gilt star. (11/16 by 1/2; 17x12mm). More
Enkhuizen, Holland: Levien, Jack R., 1970. (30)pp. The story of Noahs ark, with Levien's charming drawings. Text in English. Minor discoloration to edges of cover, otherwise fine in red leather with a little ark stamped in gold. A.e.g. (1 1/4 by 7/8; 31x23mm). More
St. Louis, MO: Julian Edison, 1970. 55pp. Illustrated throughout with photographic reproductions of miniature books. Book and binding designed by Jack R. Levien and printed in the Netherlands. Fine in full gilt-stamped leather. A.e.g. (2 9/16 by 2; 66x51mm). More
Sierra Madre, CA: Bernhardt Wall, 1946. 34pp. Number one of 200 copies, signed by Wall, who etched the entirety of this book, including the text and illustrations, and printed and bound the edition. The book is printed in several colors of ink on a variety of papers and includes numerous..... More
Paris: Marcilly, (c. 1840). 96pp. Printed by Firmin Didot, but with a Marcilly imprint. With engraved half-title and five plates, the finely executed illustrations depict scenes from the life of Christ. The prayers are arranged for special occasions: morning prayers, evening prayer, and prayers for communion and vespers. This tiny..... More
Paris: Marcilly, (ca. 1850). 92pp. Illustrated with five wood-engravings. This tiny prayer book for children was very popular and issued over a long period of time in a variety of printings and bindings. This one has covers of red pebbled coth over boards with giltwork to panels and spine. Light..... More
Paris: Marcilly, 1825. 128pp. With an engraved title-page and seven engraved plates which showcase popular party games of the period. Occasional light foxing, minor soiling to boards and rubbing along outer hinges. Overall a near fine copy in blind embossed boards with slipcase. (Gumuchian 4139). (2 3/4 by 1 7/8;..... More
Dallas: Bridwell Library, (1995). First edition. One of 500 copies, signed by the curator, David J. Lawrence. This copy inscribed by Lawrence to Anne Bromer. An illustrated miniature catalogue for the Stanley Marcus Collection exhibition at SMU in Dallas, Texas. Mint in violet patterned paper boards with printed label. Lacking..... More
London (but Hertfordshire): John Marshall (but Anne and Peter Stockham), 1801 (but 1976). One of forty-eight copies. In this "cabinet," there are two miniature books and a collection of twenty-eight hand-colored engravings of the objects listed in the books. The books are bound in full leather, one maroon and one..... More
(New Britain, CT: Art Press, 1984). (8)ff. One of 150 copies. A keepsake for the Miniature Book Society Conclave in Los Angeles, 1985. Lists and describes five REM miniatures about papermaker and historian Dard Hunter. With a tipped-in sample of Dard Hunter handmade paper. Fine in yellow wrappers and paper..... More
New Britain, CT: Art Press, (1983). (8)pp. From an edition of 300 copies, this is one of 59 numbered and hand-colored, in commemoration of the printer Robert E. Massman's birthday. Illuminated initials precede Sherman's calligraphy, which here presents a title page in Spanish and a Latin gimmick poem, which requires..... More
(New Britain, CT): Robert E. Massmann, (1970). (16)pp. One of 150 copies. A cheerful collection of haiku and poems written and assembled as a Christmas gift for young Patty Terzano, the daughter of friends of the Massmann family. Printed on purple pages with white text, with light blue endpapers and..... More
