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.
(Boston: Thomas Todd, 1932). 30pp. One of 250 copies. With a frontispiece illustration reproduced from a print loaned by Wilbur Macey Stone. A true miniature book about miniatures written by collectors whose tiny tomes were auctioned at Swann Galleries on November 15, 1990. Fine in stiff mauve wrappers decorated and... More about Chats About Miniature Books
St. Petersburg: c. 1905-6. 14-carat pendant in the form of a hinged book containing three leaves with fine engraving work. The text begins with a plaintive song which was apparently popular in the salons of pre-Revolutionary Russia, and which closes with the line "Farewell, my invaluable friend/ Do not forget... More about Russian Gold Book
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 about The Miser Elf
Franklin, NH: Hillside Press, 1961. 52pp. Limited to 350 copies handset, printed and signed by the author. Clever antic verses about all manner of things including "The Bookseller." A fine copy of the first book of the Press, in cloth-backed patterned boards with a printed paper label. (2 5/16 by 1 13/16; 60x47mm.). More about The Whirligig Id and Other Regressions
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 about Grandma's Story of the Vain Little Girl
London: Darton, Harvey, & Darton and J. Harris, 1812. 96pp. A pocket-sized reference for children, with full-page engraved plates of each of the forty-eight birds, along with a description of the characteristics and mannerisms of each species. Occasional light internal spotting, else about fine. In a variant binding of olive... More about Natural History of 48 Birds, With Elegant Engravings, from Drawings by Alfred Mills
(Tarzana, CA): Collector Editions, (1981). (32)pp. One of 300 copies, signed and numbered by Barbara Raheb. Illustrated throughout in black & white. A compilation of children's nursery rhymes and riddles. Soiling to spine, else near fine in a variant binding of decorated paper-covered boards with a paper label. Bookplate to... More about Riddles and Rhymes
(Van Nuys, CA: Raheb, Barbara J., 1981). (56)pp. One of 300 copies, signed and numbered. Illustrated throughout in black & white. Fine in green gilt-stamped pyroxylin. Bookplate to front paste-down. (Bradbury, p. 213). (1 by 3/4; 25x18mm). More about Tom Sawyer
London: Bertram Rota, 1987. Octavo. 283pp., + (28)pp. of illustrations in both color and black & white. One of 400 copies. Barker's investigation of the Frederic Prokosch forgeries. In black, cloth-backed boards. Gilt-titled to spine. A little bit of dust and wear, else a fine copy. More about The Butterfly Books. An Enquiry into the Nature of Certain Twentieth Century Pamphlets
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 about Now in My Day
Cincinnati: Mosaic Press, (1982). Three volumes. (48)pp. each. One of an unknown number of deluxe copies, signed by the printer, Miriam Irwin, the illustrator, and the author. Twenty-four dog breeds, from Afghan to St. Bernard, are illustrated and described over the course of this three-volume set. Bound by Hugo Grummich... More about Dogs
Cincinnati: Mosaic Press, (1982). (24)pp. A tiny book containing clever sayings about the stock market. Very fine, in dark blue gilt-stamped leather. (Bradbury, p. 159). (1/2 by 1/2; 13x12mm). More about Stock Market
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 about All's Well
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 about Covered Bridges of Oregon
Kaposvár, Hungary: József Mautner, 1989. 73pp., + (31)ff. plates. One of 200 copies, signed by the author, József Mautner. Illustrated with black & white portraits of the famed musicians and composers whose biographies are compiled in this volume, including Vladimir Horowitz, the Russian-American virtuoso pianist, and Jascha Heifetz, one of..... More about Jewish Stars of the Music World
(Ann Arbor, MI: North Tower Press), 1990. (6)pp., frenchfold. One of fifty copies, signed by the author/artist, Jean Lau. An ode to the natural world comprised of two sheets of paper french-folded together: the top layer is a sheet of thin, translucent paper printed with lines of poetry, which forms... More about The River
Oakham, MA: Oakham Bindery, 1974. 60pp. One of one thousand copies. Illustration of General Gage facing title page and two-page image of the Battle of Lexington. A reproduction of Gage's accounts of an intelligence mission to Worcester, the status of the artillery at Concord, and the Battle of Lexington. Bound... More about General Gage's Instructions
West Orange, NJ: Oldstyle Press, 1978. (24)pp. One of 65 copies. A brief yet comprehensive treatise on the evolution and manufacture of borders and floral designs in letterpress, with a splendid variety of borders printed in orange, blue, red, green, and brown. Bound in black cloth with paper label to... More about A Brief History of Borders and Type Flowers
Dallas: Somesuch Press, 1983. 24pp. Inscribed by Stanley Marcus, noted miniature book collector and proprietor of the Somesuch Press, to his friend and fellow microbibliophile Donn Sanford. A collection of love poems by Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Browning, illustrated with two United States "Love" stamps and a British stamp in honor... More about Love
(Budapest): Sportpropaganda Vallalat, 1984. Two volumes: 127; 127 pp. 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 as to content. Both are mint, in colorful printed boards, each with... More about Olimpiai Ermeseink
Venice: Ongania, Ferd. 1879. Two miniature volumes bound as one. 354; 231pp. One of 1,000 numbered copies. With two portrait frontispieces and numerous, exquisite engraved vignettes throughout. Includes six sonnets which had recently been discovered by G. Veludo, the dedicatee, under a separate title. As Bondy notes, "The pagination of... More about Le Rime
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 about Le Rime
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 about Collecting Steinbeck
Bradenton, FL: Opuscula Press, 1992. 12pp. One of 125 copies. Frontispiece is a twenty-nine cent postage stamp featuring the first Liberty Ship. What follows is Weber's history of the S.S. Mision Purisima, an oil tanker launched out of Sausalito, California and in service throughout World War Two. Bound in blue... More about A Mission Goes to Sea
Paris: Pairault & Cie, 1898. 64pp. One of 150 copies. All volumes in this turn-of-the-century miniature series are illustrated in black & white by contemporary French artists, in this case Charles Jouas. Bound in printed rose wrappers with a glassine dust wrapper. Some light toning to title page and final... More about Boum-Boum
