Miniature Books
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.
ABC. The Silver Penny for the Amusement and Instruction of Good Children.
Bristol: Lilliput Press, (1996). (37)pp. One of 150 copies, signed by the binder Tim Sheppard. The Silver Penny ABC was originally printed as a chapbook in 1818 and is reproduced here with "Of the Fatal Effects of Bad Education" and "The Moral" following the ABC. Illustrated with engravings, some of... More
Country Fare.
(Bristol): LILLIPUT PRESS, 1986. (44)pp. One of 250 copies signed by the printer, Allan Armstrong. Contains British recipes from the 18th and 19th centuries, with a hand-colored frontispiece and hand-colored illustrations of dishes and kitchen equipment. Very fine in gilt-stamped red morocco. (1 3/8 by 1; 35x25mm.). More
Flower Talk.
(Bristol): Lilliput Press, 1986. (25)ff. One of 55 copies indicated as the first edition, signed and numbered by the illustrator, A. Clements. An accordionfold panorama about the language of flowers, linking each flower to an emotional state or its social interpretation. "A" is for allspice, which is associated with compassion... More
A Beetle Assembly.
(Bristol): Lilliput Press, 1985. (43)pp. First edition. Limited to 250 copies. Signed by printer, Allan Armstrong. Illustrated with twenty-two beautifully hand-colored plates of beetles, each with a border in Art Nouveau style, and a facing page of descriptive text. Bound in gilt-stamped green morocco, and marbled endpapers. Top edge green... More
"The Death of Your Kind and Brave Father": President Lincoln Writes to Miss Fanny McCullough.
Valparaiso, IN: Sandlin's, 1994. 41pp. One of 200 copies. The text of President Lincoln's letter to Miss Fanny McCullough is reproduced on a foldout at the center of the book. Preceding the letter is an introduction by Ralph Geoffrey Newman, and following it are his notes. Fine in gilt-stamped black... More
Manuscript Ibadat.
(c. 1900-1930). (110)pp. This Islamic devotional text is calligraphed in black and red and accented with blue and burnished gold. Illuminated with a hand-colored calligraphic frontispiece illustration in gold, blue, green, and purple ink. One section of the text opens with a decorative headpiece in green, and another page has... More
Le Petit Paroissien de la Jeunesse.
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
Quest for the Best.
NY: Viking, 1979. 228pp. One of 850 copies by the former chairman of Neiman-Marcus, a collector and publisher of miniature books. A miniaturized edition of the full-sized book with dust wrapper and author photo on back. Fine. Bookplate of former owner. (3 by 2 1/8; 77x55mm). More
Win, Place, and Show, or the Fund Raising Jack.
(New Britain): REM Miniatures, 1967. (18)pp., + 2ff. plates. One of 500 copies, printed as a gift edition and not offered for sale at the time of publication. Illustrated with two tipped-in plates of the titular fund-raising jack, printed in sepia. A riotous story about a priest and his racing... More
Elihu Burritt. As Much a Brother.
(New Britain, CT): Massmann, Robert E., 1962. 51pp. Limited to 2000 copies. The first book printed by Massmann. An address given on the 150th anniversary of the birth of Elihu Burritt, reformer, pacifist and humanitarian. Very fine in the deluxe binding of gilt-titled blue morocco. A.e.g. (3 by 2; 63x46mm.). More
My Parents' Grave.
(New Britain, CT): REM Miniatures, 1988. (9)pp. A poem written by Ward Schori's great-grandmother in memory of her parents. Inscribed by Massmann to noted collector Rabbi Kalman Levitan. Fine in green leatherette with a large paper label, and a paper chemise. With Levitan's bookplate. (2 5/8 by 2; 68x51mm). More
The White Rose.
Newton, IA: Tamazunchale Press, 1987. 31pp. Truman Capote's essay describes his first meeting with French author Colette, during which she gave him a crystal paperweight and inspired him to start collecting the objects for himself. The book has been specially bound by Tom McEwan to reflect the world in miniature... More
A Thought on Book-Binding.
Westmoreland, NH: (Hurley, H. H.), 1981. From an edition of 350 copies, this is a specially bound deluxe copy. Melville begins with fantasies on the ideal binding for the "Red Rover," such as "jet black, with a red streak around the edges (pirate fashion)." He goes on to speak of... More
Die kleinstein Bücher der Welt, in 7 Sprachen (The Smallest Books in the World, in 7 Languages).
Munich: Waldmann & Pfitzner, (c. 1953). A complete set of four micro-miniatures. The titles of the tiny volumes are "The Lord's Prayer", "I Love You", "Lincoln's Oath of Freedom" and "The Olympic Oath." Each book is bound in leather with silver or gilt tooling, and is in a plexiglass case... More
Old King Cole.
Paisley, Scotland: Gleniffer Press, 1985. (12)pp. One of 85 copies. This micro-miniature was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the "Smallest Book in the World" in 1985. The book was printed using offset lithographic methods, with the text area of each page being less than 1 square millimeter... More
The Twelve Horary Signs—Chinese Zodiac.
(Tokyo: Toppan Printing Co., 2000). (16)pp. Two volumes. According to the accompanying prospectus, this ultra-micro miniature containing the Chinese zodiac was the 2000 Guinness World Records holder for the smallest precision-printed book in the world, measuring a mere .95mm square. Remarkably, each page of this speck of a book bears... More
Micro Book: Poem of Tu Fu.
Tokyo: Toppan Printing Co., (c. 1965). (24)pp. This set includes two versions of the ancient Chinese poet Tu Fu's verse "The Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup": a miniature book measuring 1 3/8 inches (35mm.) square, and an ultra-microminiature measuring a mere 3.75mm square. In each, the text is presented... More
Jama.
(Yugoslavia: 1982). (20)ff. One of 100 copies. A micro-miniature presentation of a series of woodblock prints to illustrate Kovacic's most well-known poem. Kovacic penned the poem during World War II while in service in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a criticism of unjust wartime suffering. After the war, it was studied... More
Sonnets from the Portuguese.
Jamaica, NY: Minia Press, (c. 1945). (181)pp. Forty-four sonnets composed during the author's twenty-month correspondence with fellow poet Robert Browning that preceded the two writers' marriage. Many of the sonnets reportedly continue themes and sentiments articulated in the poet's courtship letters. Very fine in red cloth boards with gilt lettering... More
The Book of Common Prayer.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, (c. 1900). 576pp. An edition of the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer. Bound in full black leather with gilt tooling to upper cover, spine, and inner edges of covers. All edges red. The volume is in such fine and unsullied condition likely because it... More
Omamori Kannonkyo.
Japan: (1963). One sheet folded accordion-style, printed on one side only. Reportedly from a Buddhist Temple, this sheet features three different styles of Japanese text. Bound in red silk with gilt decorations. Housed in clear plastic case with gold letters and within paper covering with sauwastika (a left-facing swastika) and... More
Three lilliput Maori miniature books.
Wellington, New Zealand: A.H. & A.W. Reed, 1962-1965. Lilliput Maori Proverbs, Lilliput Maori Place Names, and Illustrated Gospels in Maori. 526; 567; 559pp. All with illustrations throughout. The Proverbs and Place Names are reprinted from "regular" volumes at the time still in print. The Gospels is the first Lilliput edition... More
Tito. Hua Kuo Feng. Two Volumes.
(Novi Sad: Nip Forum, 1978). 92; 92pp. Two volumes, each one of 500 copies printed to commemorate the visit of Hua Kuo Feng, the President of the People's Republic of China, and the Chairman of the Communist Party of China in Yugoslavia. Illustrated with black & white photographs throughout. Both... More
Le Sentiment Analysé ou l'École de l'Adolescence.
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