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.
(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
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
(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
Paris: Marcilly, (c. 1830). 127pp. A beautiful little book of hours for young people, with engraved title and five plates, the most charming showing David dancing and playing his harp, as he leads the procession of the Ark. Contains the Order of the Mass and various services in French, and... 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
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
(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
(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
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
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
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
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
(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
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
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
(Jamaica, NY: Minia Press, c. 1943). 192pp. Printed and published by Edmund S. Wood at his Minia Press. A reproduction of the original, with Tenniel's renowned illustrations. Very fine in gilt-stamped red cloth, with gold paper slipcase. Minor general wear to book, else near fine. T.e.g. (Bradbury, p.150). (2 1/4... More
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
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
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
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
Glasgow: Bryce, David, & Son, (c. 1900-1905). Five miniature volumes. (127); (127); (240); (384); (127)pp. The volumes included are: Golden Thoughts from Great Authors; Witty, Humorous, and Merry Thoughts; Robert Burns' Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect; The Smallest English Dictionary in the World; and Old English, Scotch, and Irish... More
(Holland): B. de Later, 1676. 48pp. Printed in 5-point black-letter type. Each opening shows a four-line devotional poem, the text going across two adjoining pages. In an extraordinarily beautiful binding of seventeenth-century brown calf, with spine in compartments, gilt fillets and floral corner tools. Each corner, front and back, has... More
N.P. Miniature Book Society, 1988. Fine in printed wrappers. (2 7/8 by 2 7/8; 73x73mm). More
Worcester, MA: St. Onge, Achille J., 1962. 54pp. One of 950 copies. Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of the author. This copy is in a variant binding, unrecorded by Massmann, of green morocco with a gilt-stamped binding design by Rudolph Ruzicka. Very fine. A.e.g. (Massmann 20; Bradbury, p. 253). (2 15/16 by 2 1/4; 75x57mm). More
Boston & Vancouver: Bromer Booksellers & HM Editions, 2015. 72pp. From an edition of 120, this is one of thirty-five deluxe copies. Winner of the 2016 Miniature Book Society Competition Distinguished Book Award. Designed and printed at Heavenly Monkey, this lovely miniature memoir and bibliography contains stories of pleasure, coincidence... More
