In the Image of Man.
Skokie, IL: Black Cat Press. 39pp. One of 249 copies. Printed in black with a frontispiece and opening initial printed in blue. Fine in gilt-titled blue cloth. (2 3/4 by 2; 70x50mm). More
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 ...
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Our miniature books are listed below. You may also browse our miniature books by publisher or by century.
Skokie, IL: Black Cat Press. 39pp. One of 249 copies. Printed in black with a frontispiece and opening initial printed in blue. Fine in gilt-titled blue cloth. (2 3/4 by 2; 70x50mm). More
Skokie, IL: Black Cat Press. 39pp. Of an edition of 249 copies, this is one of ten copies in a special leather binding by J. Diez. Printed in black with title device, introductory illustration, and opening initial printed in blue. Fine in red leather with gilt ornamental stamping. (2 3/4..... 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
(N.p.): PAB, 1959. (8)ff. One of 77 copies initialed by the publisher, P.A. Benoit. Contains one original serigraph illustration in two shades of blue by Braque, and a brief text in which Braque tells how it feels to make a painting. Fine in plain wrappers with printed dust wrapper. (2..... More
Cincinnati, OH: Mosaic Press, 1978. (16)pp. A series of zoological illustrations. Fine in self wrappers. (1 by 3/4; 25x19mm). More
Worcester, Massachusetts: Achille J. St. Onge, 1955. 88pp. One of 1,000 copies printed at the Chiswick Press. A brief, sauntering discussion of the traits of writers and of the practice of writing. Very fine in gilt-stamped green leather with original glassiene wrapper, minorly chipped. A.e.g. (Bradbury, p. 252; Massmann 12)..... More
Winterport, ME: Borrower's Press, 1978. 50pp. One of 300 copies signed by Jane Bernier, the printer. Includes four handcolored illustrations. Fine in gilt-stamped green leatherette. (7/8 by 11/16; 20x15mm). More
NY: Valentine's Manual Press, 1922. 192pp. Engravings throughout of historic Yonkers buildings, landmarks, and scenery. A near-miniature account of the history of Yonkers, from its founding to its contemporary commercial, cultural, and social environments. Bound in red leather with gilt title to upper cover. Housed in paper slipcase. Some bumping..... More
St. Paul, MN: Greenstone Books, 1969. 44ff., printed rectos only. One of 500 copies. Words by William Cullen Bryant ("A Forest Hymn"), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ("When Woods Were Green"), and Ralph Waldo Emerson ("Nature"), accompanied by elegant illustrations and elaborate initials on every page. Bound in wood veneer with the..... More
Newton, IA: Tamazunchale Press, 1986. 58pp. One of 250 copies printed in Haarlem, Holland by Joh. Enschedé en Zonen. With a postage stamp portrait of Pearl S. Buck tipped in as a frontispiece. Beautifully bound in orange-brown leather by Reliure d'Art de Centre, with Faith Harrison marbled endpapers. Gilt titling..... More
Newton, IA: Tamazunchale Press, 1986. 58pp. One of 250 copies printed in Haarlem, Holland by Joh. Enschedé en Zonen. With a postage stamp portrait of Pearl S. Buck tipped in as a frontispiece. Beautifully bound in orange-brown leather by Reliure d'Art de Centre, with Faith Harrison marbled endpapers. Gilt titling..... More
Pasadena: Susan and Karen Dawson, 1966. 21pp. First edition, printed in black, rather than the later purple. Burgess' humorous poem, illustrated with several whimsical line drawings. The binding on this book varies; this copy in glazed, purple leather boards, hand-bound by Bela Blau. With a cow illustration gilt-stamped in the..... More
Paisley, Scotland: Gleniffer Press, 1987. (iv), 240pp. One of 500 copies. Signed by the printer/binder, Ian Macdonald. A special miniature reprint of the "Kilmarnock" edition of Burns' work, which appeared in 1786. Bound in full blue leather with silver spine titling. Housed in publisher's acrylic box with original title card..... More
Paisley, Scotland: Gleniffer Press, 1978. (28)ff. One of 500 copies. With portraits of Robert Burns and others. Between these are highlights of Burns' compendium of work, including "To a Mouse" and "Address to a Haggis". Pictorial endpapers and printed boards. Fine in a fine pictorial dust wrapper. Bookplate of former..... More
(Solihull, UK: Cherub Press, 1996). (10)pp., + 6 samples of Japanese papers. One of 95 copies. The paper specimens exemplify some of the major styles of Japanese papers, including Chiyogami, Suminagashi, lace-paper, and Kimburi Tairei paper. Butcher's text is a concise and accessible outline of the various methods employed in..... More
Venice: 1911. 273pp. With an introduction by H. Douglas. The text in this volume is the fourth canto of Byron's European epic, and it takes its shape from the period Byron spent in Venice in 1817. In a beautifully painted and calligraphed vellum binding decorated in a style reminiscent of..... More
Cincinnati, OH: Mosaic Press, 1982. (48)pp. One of 100 deluxe copies bound in full brown leather stamped in silver (contrary to Bradbury) and with sterling pistol onlaid to upper cover. Signed by the author and by the printer, Miriam Irwin. Very fine. T.e.g. (11/16 by 3/4; 17x19mm). More
Cincinnati, OH: Mosaic Press, 1982. (48)pp. Signed by the printer, Miriam Irwin. A fine example, bound in brown cloth, gilt-stamped. (11/16 by 3/4; 17x19mm). More
Cincinnati, OH: Mosaic Press, 1981. (64)pp. Signed by the printer, Miriam Irwin. Line drawings by Frank Campione capture the childhood wonder for reading evoked in Campbell's retelling of her experiences in the genre. Bound in full green leatherette with unrecorded variant gilt stamping, perhaps a test-run for the publisher or..... More
Cincinnati: Mosaic Press, 1991. (48)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
(San Diego): Ash Ranch Press, (1988). 27pp. One of twenty-six deluxe lettered copies with a beaded cover. According to Bradbury, Don Hildreth, the publisher behind the Ash Ranch Press, was "a talented practitioner of the book arts" who designed, handset type, illustrated, letterpress printed, and bound his books. All of..... More
Baltimore: Xavier Press, 1993. 19pp. A timeless essay by Lewis Carroll on the art of correspondence, illustrated with two pasted-in postage stamps promoting letter-writing and a fold-out sample of a letter by the author. In a designer binding by Dominic Riley featuring gilt-tooled envelopes and abstracted stamps in onlays of..... More
Austin, TX: Amistad Press, 1990. (69)pp. Signed by the author-printer-binder, Yolanda Carter, at the penultimate page: the final bibliographic entry, which records this very bibliography. A delightful project, with photoreproduced images of books and their illustrations interspersed. Bound in orange cloth with white paper label to three-quarters of upper cover..... More
Mexico: Editorial Ramirez, (c. 1960). 126pp. Eight full-page illustrations plus frontispiece depict, in the case of the former, stages of the Catholic mass, and in the case of the latter, Christ teaching children. Bound in red paper over boards with upper cover gilt-stamped and with onlaid chromolithograph illustration of a...... More
Watertown, Mass. Bromer, Anne & David, 1979. (20)pp. From an edition of 85 copies, only 50 of which were for sale, this is the publisher's copy. Printed by Darrell Hyder. This is the text of the first edition (1840), printed as a micro-miniature with a pictorial opening initial hand-calligraphed by..... More