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.
(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
Glasgow: David Bryce & Son, (1889). Two volumes. 64ff., as double-page spreads, continuously paginated. Each spread bordered in a single red rule, within which are the musical notations and lyrics for twenty-five Scottish songs. The lyrics often use the vernacular, bringing Scots vocabulary with Scottish brogue pronunciations. Both copies bound..... More
Old Stile Press, 1995. (9)ff., accordionfold. One of 240 copies, signed by the illustrator on the title page. Illustrated with an expansive woodcut by Julian Schwarz extending across eight spreads, one of a series of three such sets made by him. Printed by Nicolas McDowall at the Old Stile Press..... 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
(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 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
Chicago: Le Petit Oiseau Press, 1963. 32pp. One of 150 copies. The Christmas story as told by St. Luke. The last book in a series of small, charming miniatures printed by Doris V. Welsh from her private Le Petit Oiseau Press. Bound in green cloth-backed paper boards. (Bradbury 3198). (1..... 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 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
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
Glasgow: David Bryce & Son, (c. 1900). (768)pp. A pristine copy of Bryce's Book of Common Prayer, printed in a variety of type faces and sizes, and ultimately perhaps the best testament to turn-of-the-century miniature printing. Bound in black limp morocco with gilt stamping. Housed, as issued, in box with..... More
Barcelona: Editorial Vallès, S. L., 1959. 119, (9)pp. Fourteenth edition. A rather rare child's breviary, printed in Spanish, with occasional full-page illustrations throughout depicting daily activities proper for a good Catholic child, as well as the various rites and sacraments of the Church. Bound in blue pebbled cloth over boards..... 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
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, (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
