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.
Haddon Heights, NJ: Washburn, William Lewis, 1938. (10)ff. One of 49 copies. Printed in black with green borders and rules. Gilt titling on front cover rubbed, and a very small hole present in rear cover; else fine in a stab-bound parchment binding with ribbon ties. (Welsh 989; MBC II.1.7; Bradbury... More
(Germany: c. 1820s). A miniature globe covered with varnished paper showing the continents, outlined in color by hand, accompanied by a 27-panel miniature folding panorama. The panels show inhabitants of different countries from around the world in characteristic costumes, hand-colored and labeled in English, German, and French. Many of the... 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
Japan: (1918). 64mo. Eleven original sumi-e and watercolor paintings in an accordion-fold book. The paintings have been dated Taisho 7, that is, the seventh year of the Taisho period, 1918. The paintings depict various landscapes, flora, and fauna, and have been created by the artists Sekitai Nagasaka, Seisen Oka, Hiyakunen... 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
(Japan: 1850). (8)pp. Four two-page, full color illustrations. A miniature volume depicting a series of scenes involved anthropomorphic mice. The mice wear traditional Japanese garb, sit against backdrops of mountains and villages, and take human-like postures, such as sitting cross-legged and bowing. It is possible that the volume portrays the... 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
Boston: Bromer, Anne & David, 1982. 41ff. From an edition of just thirty-six copies, this one is unique. Inscribed by Robert Gould on the colophon to Anne and David Bromer. A miniature manuscript consisting of twelve original watercolor designs on soft gray paper by Gould, showing hearts embellished with symbolic... More
N.P. Miniature Book Society, 1988. Fine in printed wrappers. (2 7/8 by 2 7/8; 73x73mm). More
Worcester, MA: Achille J. St. Onge, 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
Boston & Vancouver: Bromer Booksellers & HM Editions, 2015. 72pp. From an edition of 120, this is one of 85 copies that make up the regular edition. Designed and printed at Heavenly Monkey, this lovely miniature memoir and bibliography contains stories of pleasure, coincidence, and difficulty for each of the... More
Worcester, MA: St. Onge, Achille J. 1952. 27pp. One of 750 copies. Inscription in ink by St. Onge. Illustrated with a portrait frontispiece of King George VI by Karsh of Ottawa. First American edition of Winston Churchill's speech. Printed by the Chiswick Press and bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Very... More
Worcester, MA: St. Onge, Achille J. 1952. 27pp. One of 750 copies. Illustrated with a portrait frontispiece of King George VI by Karsh of Ottawa. First American edition of Winston Churchill's speech. Printed by the Chiswick Press and bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe. Very fine in red morocco with gilt-stamping... More
Boston: Anne & David Bromer, 1983. (62)pp. First edition. From an edition of 400 copies signed by Gorey, this is one of 100 copies comprising the deluxe issue with the illustrations hand-colored by him. The text is an alphabet of short humorous couplets patterned after early moral primers for children... More
Boston: Anne & David Bromer, 1989. (32)ff. This Gorey rarity features a one-of-a-kind designer binding by Gabrielle Fox, one of the leading artisans in binding and conservation. Signed by Fox and the artist, Edward Gorey. With twenty-nine illustrations accompanied by rhyming couplets, Q.R.V is an homage to Isaac Watts, and... More
Boston: Anne & David Bromer, 1989. (32)ff. From an edition of 400 copies, this is one of 110 hand-colored in metallic casein by the artist, and signed by him below the colophon. This Gorey rarity is bound in a one-of-a-kind designer binding by Brother Edgard Claes, a binder known for... More
(New Britain, CT: Art Press), 1971. (16)pp., frenchfold. One of 50 copies. The Foreword by Massmann is signed by him. Hunter's account of the post-Civil War reuse of Egyptian mummies' wrappings by a Maine paper merchant is bound in stiff wrappers in the shape of a sarcophagus with the profile... More
Needham, MA: Rosemary Press, (1916). (iii), 101, (2)ff. From an edition of 75 copies printed for the 129th meeting of the American Oriental Society, this is one of fifteen reserved for the Press. A charming miniature book featuring Khayyam's celebrated couplets on the recto of each page. The edition was... More
New Britain, CT: Art Press, 1971. (6)pp., frenchfold. One of 50 copies printed at the Art Press and signed by the proprietor, Robert E. Massmann. Sevaral keepsakes in one, this tribute to Hunter includes a eulogy and a reproduction of a letter from Harrison Elliot, both held in pockets on... More
Guben: F. Fechner, (n.d.). Four 64mo volumes. 29; 30; 29; 29pp. Alternate publisher given as A. & Joseph Myers, London. All volumes begin with full color frontispiece, another full color engraving accompanies the start of each interior story. Fenelon's classic tales include "The Meeting of the Animals to Choose a.... More
N.p. n.d. (4) ff. A photo-reduced reproduction, with news of the day on the cover and horse race information inside. Fine. (1 5/8 by 1 1/16; 41x27mm.). More
N.p. n.d. (8) ff. A photo-reduced reproduction of The Times. Fine. (2 3/16 by 1 7/16; 55x36mm.). More
N.p. n.d. (8) ff. A photo-reduced reproduction of Cleveland's major daily. Fine. (1 7/8 by 1 1/4; 48x31mm.). More
N.p. n.d. (8) ff. A photo-reduced reproduction of the Swiss paper Tages-Anzeiger. Fine. (1 7/8 by 1 3/8; 47x35mm.). More
