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.
Franklin, NH: Hillside Press, 1964. 62pp. One of 350 copies. An entertaining account of the quirks, suspicions, and customs that characterize New Orleans. Fine in printed parchment. (2 1/4 by 1 15/16; 59x49mm.). More
Tilton, NH: Hillside Press, 1972. x, 38pp. One of 250 copies. With nine charming, hand-colored illustrations. Fine in peach cloth boards stamped in black. with an illustration of the elf beneath a mushroom. (Bradbury p. 95). (2 3/8 by 2; 60x50mm). More
Buffalo, NY: Breed, Butler & Co., 1863. 61pp. A grandmother tells her grandson the story of a vain little girl in order to comfort him after an accident. Bound in gilt-decorated purple cloth. Covers faded and slightly rubbed, else a fine copy. A.e.g. With the signature of a youthful owner..... More
Providence: Livermore & Knight, 1914. 74pp. Printed in red and black. A compact compendium of cocktail recipes for the aspiring mixologist, and one that is quite readable. Bound in green and red paper with gilt titling. A fine, bright copy. All edges red. (2 1/16 by 1 3/4; 52x45mm). More
(Boston): Anne and David Bromer, 1986. (11)ff. One of 160 copies printed at the Firefly Press and illuminated on the title page by Suzanne Moore. This Elizabethan poem was discovered in a manuscript in 1985 and initially attributed to Shakespeare. An elegant miniature bound in handmade paper over boards by..... More
Cincinnati: Mosaic Press, 1991. (46)pp. Illustrated throughout, to punctuate Caniff's reflections on the passage of time. Caniff was an American cartoonist and alumnus of Ohio State University, to which the copyright of this text belongs. Printed by O. Carroll Prewitt and bound by Miriam Owen Irwin. Very fine in red..... More
Cincinnati: Mosaic Press, (1981). (48)pp. One of 50 deluxe copies, signed by everyone involved in the production of the book, including the printer, Miriam Irwin, author, illustrator, and binder. With black & white illustrations by Helen Stephens throughout. Published in honor of Philadelphia on the occasion of the Tricentennial Celebration..... More
Cincinnati, OH: Mosaic Press, 1982. 41pp. With illustrations by Lacassa Gunter Fisher throughout, in black and white. Very fine in beige printed boards. (1 by 3/4; 25x20mm). More
Fullerton, CA: Lorson's Books & Prints, 1987. (12)ff., frenchfold. One of 32 copies with seven original watercolors of pastoral scenes in winter. Signed by the artist, Gordon Murray, who also calligraphed the text of John Clare's poem. Very fine in tan cloth with a watercolor winter landscape set into the..... More
Fullerton, CA: Lorson's Books, 1986. (20)pp., frenchfold. One of 50 copies, numbered, dated and signed by Murray, the designer, artist and printer. Four poems by Housman are illustrated with two full-page watercolor illustrations by Murray and a decoration to the title-page. Bound in olive cloth, with cross-stitched design. Black slipcase..... More
(Bexhill, Sussex): Silver Thimble Books, 1986. (24)pp. One of 50 copies illustrated with original watercolors and signed by the artist. Contains four pictorial watercolor title pages, and the endpapers show panoramic watercolor landscapes. Text includes "Adlestrop," a poem by Edward Thomas (1878-1917), "Four Ducks on a Pond," poem by William..... More
(Bexhill, Sussex): Silver Thimble Books, 1985. (40)pp. One of 150 copies hand-colored and signed by Murray. A tongue-in-cheek love story. With hand-colored frontispiece, initials, and floral ornaments. Mint in cloth with pictorial label. (2 1/8 by 1 5/8; 54x43mm). More
(Bexhill, Sussex): Silver Thimble Books, 1985. (43)pp. One of 50 copies hand-colored and signed by the author/artist. Illustrated throughout. A comic narrative poem, originally written as a puppet play for children. Mint in cloth with pictorial label. Black slipcase. (2 1/8 by 1 5/8; 54x43mm). More
(N.p. Gordon Murray, 1986). (10)ff., frenchfold. From an edition of 50 copies, as regards the text, this is a unique illustrated copy with original paintings by Murray. Signed by the artist. The text is reproduced calligraphy, with a hand-lettered initial to each page, pasted onto a background illustration of colored..... More
Prague: Státní nakladatelství krásne literatury a umení, 1964. Five illustrations by Zdenek Chotenovský depict a Matisse-like woman in various positions of repose. Her placidity underscores Neruda's twenty love poems, and put into starker light the volume's twenty-first poem, which eulogizes the grief and pain of loving. 76, (4)pp. Bound in..... More
North Monmouth, UK: Old Stile Press, 1995. (32)ff. One of 240 copies, signed by Nicolaus McDowall, the printer and creator. An alphabet panorama, with each word "acted out" by the upper and lower case Bodoni letters; for "mountaineer," the little "m" climbs up the slope of the big "M." Printed..... More
(Budapest): Sportpropaganda Vallalat, 1984. Two volumes: 127; 127pp. A pair of tiny books on the Los Angeles Olympic Games, listing Hungarian participants and medal winners. The two books differ in size and cover design, but are identical in content. Both are mint, in colorful printed boards, each with an acetate..... More
Venice: Ongania, Ferd. 1879. Two miniature volumes bound as one. 354; 231; (6)pp. One of 1,000 numbered copies. This is copy number 1, and it is signed by Ongania below the limitation statement. With two portrait frontispieces and numerous, exquisite engraved vignettes throughout. Includes six sonnets which had recently been..... More
Venice, FL: Opuscula Press, 1983. 61pp. One of 250 copies. Signed the author, Dunbar, and the printer, Robert Hanson. Frontispiece photograph of Steinbeck, plus tipped-in rendering of Steinbeck's signature flying pig. An overview of directions for collecting Steinbecks many works, including galley proofs, magazine publications, and special purpose books. Bound..... More
Kasama, Japan: Cannabis Press, 1981. 24pp., + 5ff. One of 200 numbered copies. Explores the Nepalese process of fine papermaking. With two black-and-white illustrations, one of a paper mould and one of sheets drying in moulds. Also includes five paper specimens. Fine in brown, stab-sewn wrappers of handmade paper, with..... More
(Boston: Marian Parry, c. 1998). (10)ff. One of thirty copies, signed by the artist, Marian Parry. Eight 2-by-3-inch cards (plus two more for the title and colophon) show various odd couples, satirically illustrated. The drawings were xeroxed and then playfully hand-colored by Parry, a well-known artist and illustrator. Fine in..... More
(Cambridge, MA: Runcible Press, ca.1985). (54)pp., frenchfold. One of 50 copies, signed by the artist/author, Marian Parry. With twenty-six delightful linoleum cuts in black & white, including such "beasts" as a gargoyle, a jabiru, a nautilus, and a xerus. Printed on Kozo paper and stab-sewn in decorated red paper. Minor..... More
Cambridge, MA: Runcible Books, (c. 1987). (12)ff. One of thirty copies, signed by the artist, Marian Parry. This copy inscribed by her on the first card to Dorothea Widmayer and Eleanor Webster. Ten 2 by 3-inch cards show the characters: the fascinating foreigner; the ingenue libertine; the weak young man..... More
Chicago: Petit Oiseau Press, 1954. 7pp. Although the limitation is not printed in the book, this is one of 100 copies. Doris Welsh's second book, published before she began to use the "Petit Oiseau" imprint. Illustrated with a drawing of the Mayflower as the frontispiece. Bound in purple cloth-backed decorated..... More
