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.
Paris: Marcilly, (1836). 64pp. This almanac, deemed "delightful" by Louis Bondy, is engraved throughout and includes eight full-page illustrations, reflecting the "pleasure and gaiety" mentioned in the title. Calendars of the months are preceded by poems, including "Le Charme" and "L'Innocence," and the tale of Paul et Virginie in verse..... More
Paris: Marcilly, 1825. 128pp. With an engraved title-page and seven engraved plates which showcase the elaborate evening costumes 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. (2 3/4 by 1 7/8; 70x48mm)..... More
New Britain, CT: Robert E. Massmann, 1980. (5)ff. One of 500 copies. A foldout panorama, with flaps which unfold further to reveal changing pictures. Based on the early moralizing "Metamorphoses" or "Harlequinades," but with new, hand-colored illustrations. This one in particular is adapted from the 1852 edition "Improved and Published"..... More
(New Britain, CT): Robert E. Massmann, 1977. 28pp., frenchfold. One of 500 copies printed at Art Press. Classic nursery rhymes are printed with hand-colored plates. Blank plates must be opened and held to a strong light to "magically" reveal the images. Illustrated in color by C. Ernest Massmann. Bound in..... More
(New Britain, CT): Robert E. Massman, 1970. (7)pp. accordionfold, plus fold-out calendar. The accordionfold pages provide an introduction written by Massmann, who states that this is his second attempt at typesetting haikus. The fold-out calendar sets two haikus next to each month of the year, all printed in deep purple..... More
(New Britain): Massmann, Robert E., 1971. (42)pp., frenchfold. No limitation stated. Printed in purple ink, with illustrations of twenty-five Christian symbols by E. Helene Sherman. Miniature bookplate of Haddon Klingberg, designed by Massmann, used as a frontispiece. Fine in white leatherette, with a label illuminated in gold by Sherman. White..... More
New Britain, CT: Robert E. Massman, 1982. One of 250 copies. Illustrated throughout, with many small items of ephemera including a tiny Christmas card, a war ration book with four ration stamps in it, bookplates, and a sample of paper from Dard Hunter's mill. Bound in brown leatherette with illustration..... More
(New Britain, CT): Robert E. Massmann, 1981. (16)ff., frenchfold. One of 500 copies printed at Art Press. An illustrated alphabet by E. Helene Sherman, which is a reissue in a smaller format of the earlier "ABC's of Boston." It shows all the "must see" attractions of Boston. With title-page illuminated..... More
(New Britain): Art Press, 1968. One of 250 copies. Designed, printed, and hand-colored by Robert E. Massman, this four-paneled peep-show displays drawings by C. Ernest Massman. The peep-show depicts Moby Dick rising out of the water in front of the Pequod. Very fine in printed wrappers and a paper chemise..... More
New Britain, CT: Robert E. Massmann, 1975. (17)ff. One of 250 copies. Compiled and illustrated by Mildred Claire Pratt. Poetry about seashells printed in a rosy pink on frenchfold papers. Hand-colored illustrations of shells on every page. A pretty book in blue cloth covers with paper label. Very fine in..... More
New Britain, CT: Robert E. Massmann, 1970. (16)ff. One of 300 copies. A triangular book, containing many drawings of "Sukie," a French poodle, in various playful poses, printed in brown. With touches of handcoloring by Eloise and Robert E. Massmann. Minor bumps to corners, else fine in wrappers showing Sukie..... 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
Conway, MA: Robert L. Merriam, 1975. 24pp. One of 1000 copies. Every other page illustrated with quaint scenes from the moral tale. Bound in pale paper wrappers and housed in yellow paper slipcase. Fine. (2 7/16 by 1 11/16; 62x44mm). More
Mexico: Vicente Garcia Torres, 1844. 64pp. Engraved title page plus ten smaller engravings throughout. Though by 1844, Catholicism was flourishing in Mexico and the Mass was familiar to most, if not all, Mexicans, this miniature marks a significant change in the way Mexicans encountered the Word of God. Rather than..... 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
(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 leather, with gold paper slipcase. Minor general wear to book, else near fine. T.e.g. (Bradbury, p.150). (2 1/4..... More
(Munich: Waldmann & Pfitzner, ca. 1950's). Printed in seven languages. A micro-miniature bound in black leather with the five Olympic rings stamped in silver on the front. Housed in a clear plastic case with a swivel top containing a magnifying glass (1/4 by 1/4 in.; 6 x 6 mm.). 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
Boston: D. Hale, 1814. 256pp. Illustrated with sixteen wood engravings with captions. Adomeit records only eight surviving copies, five of which are mutilated. This is a complete copy, and perhaps the eighth of the seven, the others being recorded as held in institutions. In contemporary brown leather, with rules in..... More
NY: Hurst & Company, (c. 1880). 192pp. Twenty-five engravings—one frontispiece and each of the remaining twenty-four introducing a chapter—depicting significant scenes from the Bible. Among them appear Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Pharaoh being swallowed up in the Red Sea, and Peter's denial of Christ. The volume..... 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
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
