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.
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
East Greenwich, RI: River's Edge Studio, 1970. 45pp. From an edition of 500 copies, this is one of 300 bound in Beau Brilliant cover paper. Illustrated with sixteen tipped-in U.S. stamps, all featuring flowers or plants. Printed by Enschedé in the Netherlands. Fine in stiff green wrappers with gilt titling..... More
East Greenwich, RI: River's Edge Studio, 1970. 45pp. From an edition of 500 copies, this is one of 200 bound in full green leather with gilt titling to upper cover and spine. Illustrated with sixteen tipped-in U.S. stamps, all featuring flowers or plants. Printed by Enschedé in the Netherlands. Fine..... More
London: G. Pickering, 1828. 512pp. Engraved frontispiece reproducing da Vinci's "The Last Supper." A sharp miniature printing of the New Testament in Greek, faithful to the language even in headers and frontis caption, and rendering in Latin the title page and dedicatory statements. Bound in brown calf over boards with..... More
London: William Pickering, 1825. Nine 64mo vols. 306; 279; 294; 326; 321; 348; 320; 315; 270, liv pp. Frontispiece, title-page vignette, and thirty-eight engraved plates depicting memorables scenes across Shakespeare's oeuvre: the death of Julius Caesar, Macbeth with his knife on his way to murder Duncan, pastoral tableaux from Love's..... More
London: G. Pickering, 1822. 2 vols. 374pp, paginated continuously. Engraved double-page title in first volume, including frontis portrait of Dante, whose masterwork is here dutifully printed entirely in Italian. As he was wont to do, Pickering also prints the parerga in the text's original language. Both volumes bound in brown..... More
London: G. Pickering, 1824. 93pp. A miniature printing of the Classical poetry of Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius in Latin, faithful to the language even in headers, the title page, and dedicatory statements. Bound in brown calf over boards with gilt double rule as frame to upper and lower covers, spine..... More
London: G. Pickering, 1822. 237, (10)pp. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Petrarch, facing an engraved title page. An exacting miniature printing of the Rime in Italian, faithful to the language even in headers, the title page, and dedicatory statements. Bound in brown calf over boards with gilt double rule as frame..... More
London: G. Pickering, 1824. 220pp. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Terence, facing an engraved title page. Ornamental head- and tail-pieces. A miniature printing of Terence's plays in Latin, faithful to the language even in headers, the title page, and dedicatory statements. Bound in brown calf over boards with gilt double rule..... More
London: G. Pickering, 1822. 2 vols. (vii), 405pp, paginated continuously. Engraved double-page title in first volume, including frontis portrait of Tasso. Head- and tail-pieces divide the cantos of Tasso's imaginative poetic retelling of the Seige of Jerusalem, here dutifully printed entirely in Italian. As he was wont to do, Pickering..... More
NY: Randolph and Co., (1895). 77pp. Portraits of the presidents (up to Grover Cleveland's second term) face brief biographical descriptions. Afterward is a primer of United States civics, with information about the the Treasury, the military, and the Electoral College. Bound in white cloth over boards, with American flag and..... More
Nappanee: Press of the Indiana Kid, 1976. (10)pp. One of forty-five copies. A miniature recollection of the printer's brief correspondence with George Bernard Shaw. Bound in leather-backed marbled boards lightly rubbed, else near fine. (2 3/4 by 1 7/8; 70x48mm). More
(Nappanee): Press of the Indiana Kid, 1972. 24pp. One of 100 copies printed and bound by James Lamar Weygand. A humorous discourse on the re-use of paper currency between the years 1866 and 1943, with a foldout facsimile advertisement from 1906 and an envelope at the back of the book..... More
Nappanee: Press of the Indiana Kid, 1963. (26)pp. One of 100 copies. Weygand's first miniature book recounts the search for and history of the Albion Press he found in England. Illustrated with cuts of different printing presses. Slight split between frontispiece and title page, else nearly fine in pictorial boards..... More
Evanston, IL: Press of Ward Schori, (1965). 45pp. One of 500 copies. Nostalgic snippets of poetry by various authors, from Shakespeare to A. E. Housman. The page numbers and other little accents are printed in turquoise. Very fine in black boards with gold decoration. (1 3/4 by 2 1/4; 44x55mm)..... More
Evanston, IL: Press of Ward Schori, (1965). 45pp. One of 500 copies. Nostalgic snippets of poetry by various authors, from Shakespeare to A. E. Housman. The page numbers and other little accents are printed in turquoise. Very fine in black boards with gold decoration. (1 3/4 by 2 1/4; 44x55mm)..... More
(Evanston): Press of Ward Schori, 1988. 12pp., frenchfold. One of 99 copies, signed by the printer. A nostalgic and heartfelt rumination on childhood and the things that last into adulthood. Printed on damask paper in blue and black, and bound in white flocked boards with gilt stamping. Fine. (2 1/4..... More
Evanston, IL: Press of Ward Schori, 1974. 32pp. One of 150 leather-bound, numbered copies. Signed by the printer, Ward Schori. Fine in gilt-stamped leather. A.e.g. (2 1/8 by 1 9/16; 55x40mm). More
Evanston, IL: Press of Ward Schori, (1990). (20)ff. Signed by Ward Schori. A classic French story with a twist. Fine in black velvet boards, with a gilt design and a jewel in the center. (2 9/16 by 2 1/4; 66x57mm). More
(Evanston, IL): Press of Ward Schori, 1988. xvi, 29pp. From an edition of 300 copies, this is one of 100 deluxe copies in a slipcase with a Kennedy medallion encased in its front cover. A tribute to the young president with a frontispiece illustration of Kennedy and the White House..... More
Evanston, IL: Press of Ward Schori, 1985. (48)pp. Short story accompanied by discussion of treating snakeskins for binding. Very fine in rattlesnake skin boards, with top edge dyed brown. (2 1/8 by 1 3/4; 55x44mm). More
Evanston, IL: Press of Ward Schori, 1985. 42pp. A once-in-a-lifetime astrological celebration, given its due in miniature form. Fine in blue leather, with a gilt comet streaking upwards on the front cover. (2 7/16 by 1 15/16; 62x49mm). More
Székesfehérvár: 1985. 106pp. One of the deluxe edition of 25 copies. This striking and novel miniature book is printed entirely on folded sheets of aluminium foil. It commemorates the 5th Aluminium Conference, which was held in Hungary in May, 1985 in order to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Hungarian..... More
NY: David Bryce / Frederick A. Stokes Company, (c. 1885). (228)pp. Seventeen engravings of Scottish landmarks and cityscapes, among them Inverness, Ballaculish, and Glencoe, punctuate this book of reflective prompts. The volume is divided into sixteen sets of "confessions," each section printed on differently colored paper and labeled by the..... More
