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.
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
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
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
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
(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
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
(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
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
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
Santa Cruz, CA: Thomas, Peter and Donna, 1990. (22)pp. One of 200 copies. The biography and footnotes to the text were written by Peter Thomas, and the illustrations were cut by Donna Thomas. Includes a seventeenth-century paper sample made by Ray Tomasso. The book is letterpress printed on paper trimmed..... More
Pasadena, CA: Permanent Press, 1975. 69pp. One of 250 copies. Full-page illustrated initials open each of the five chapters of this first volume. The first half of Lathourakis' biography of the infamous Rasputin. Bound in black polished cloth over boards. Lacking second volume, but fine otherwise. (2 11/16 by 2..... 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: Petit Oiseau Press, 1963. 21pp. One of fifty copies. An amusing story about trying out a typewriter. Very fine in cloth-backed blue boards. (Bradbury, p. 179). (1 7/8 by 1 1/2; 48x38mm). 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
(England: c. 1902). (6)pp. A brass photograph album in the form of a locket, containing six pictures: King Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark, crowned in 1902, the Prince and Princess who became George V and Queen Mary, and a child who is possibly the future Edward VIII. The final..... More
Los Angeles: Plantin Press for Dawson's Book Shop, 1973. (xxxviij), 61pp. From an edition of 500 copies, this is one of thirty of a special printing by Saul and Lillian Marks at the Plantin Press, featuring a deluxe binding by the firm Patron & de la Mauviniere and a wood..... More
Boston: Bromer, Anne & David, 1981. (36)pp. One of 115 copies. Signed by Linnea Gentry of the Amaranth Press, who printed and illustrated the book. Printed in two colors. An extremely fine copy in violet pastepaper boards with title stamped in silver to front cover, author to spine. Prospectus laid..... More
(Berkeley, CA): Poole Press, 1988. (13)ff. One of 75 copies, signed by Maryline Poole Adams. The illustrator meets the challenge of depicting the Bisky Bat, the Fimble Fowl, the Pobble who has no toes, and all of Edward Lear's other characters through the medium of woodcuts. Very fine in patterned..... More
(Vienna): K.K. Hofbibliothek, (1912). 22; (126)pp. A facsimile of Viennese printer Ludwig Bonnoberger's famous prayer book of 1607, presented to a gathering of bibliophiles at the Imperial Court Library in September 1912. Bound in buff cloth with interwoven silver threads. All edges are gilt and gauffered, with two indented circles..... 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
London: Field & Tuer; Simpkin; Hamilton, 1884. 146, (16)pp. Comprises the miniature version of Quads for Authors, Editors, & Devils as well as the "enlarged edition." A book of jokes relating to printers, with a sixteen-page glossary. Quads, explains the preface, are "little metal blanks used by the printer for..... More
(Tarzana, CA): Raheb, Barbara J., 1984. (28)pp. One of 300 copies signed by Barbara Raheb, who calligraphed and illustrated the text of what was a medieval illuminated manuscript. The borders of each page are colored gold. Bound in gilt-decorated black pyroxylin leather, with title in gilt to a red morocco..... More
