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.
Japan: Miyako Akai, 2008. (62)pp. From an edition of 100 copies, this is one of 90 regular copies. An original story about a winter trip written in Japanese by Miyako Akai, who also designed the book, with editing and translation into English by Larry Seidman. Circles have been cut out... More about Greetings from Here
Marcham, Oxford: Alembic Press, 1995. (20)pp. One of 110 copies. Six woodcuts by Brett, printed in burgundy and black. These punctuate the Te Deum hymn, which is tidily presented using type from St. Mary's Press, the private press of the Community of St. Mary the Virgin). The music rests on... More about Te Deum Laudamus. Solemn Tone from the Sarum Psalter
London: Allied Newspapers, (c. 1932). 40 volumes. Each volume has a frontispiece illustration. Includes a volume of Sonnets and a Glossary and Bibliography. This set was printed in Scotland to commemorate the opening of the Royal Shakespeare Theater in Stratford-upon-Avon. Typically encountered in a binding of black imitation leather, and... More about Complete Works
Wein (Vienna): Weidman, J., (1886). (68)pp. Begins with eleven portraits of famous women, including the ballerina Fanny Elssler, the opera singer Amalie Materna, and the actress Charlotte Wolter, each accompanied by a caption. The rest of the almanac provides charts of saints' days, a list accounting the number of years... More about Almanach fur das Jahr 1887
Neutitschein: L. V. Enders'schen K.-A. (c. 1917). (26)pp. A miniature German calendar, printed in red and black. Housed in a dark green leather portfolio, decorated with a gilt-stamped four-leaf clover to the upper cover. Loose in the portfolio, and pencil markings to two pages, else fine. (2 7/8 by 1 3/8; 73x36mm). More about Kalendar für das Jahr 1917
(20)ff. One of the copies in which the pages have been folded vertically and bound into "finger" format. Entirely engraved. Contains the usual lists of royals, officers of state, bank days, Saints' Days, eclipses, and the like. Bound in full dark green morocco. Very fine in a matching slipcase that... More about London Almanack for 1896
London: Company of Stationers, 1820. (24)pp. One engraving of "The London Institution, Moorfields," which spans four pages. The almanac's calendar records the times of sunrise and sunset, as well as various saints' days and term times for academic institutions. The volume also provides a table of the reigns of the... More about London Almanack for the Year of Christ 1820
London: Printed for the Company of Stationers, (1822). (21)ff. The pages are entirely engraved, with the arms of the Stationers on the title page. Contains the usual lists of kings, royals, officers of state, bank days, etc. Red leather binding in wallet shape, with flap to close and pocket for... More about London Almanack for the Year of Christ 1823
London: Printed for the Company of Stationers, (1836). (22)ff. The pages are entirely engraved, with the arms of the Stationers on the title page and another coat-of-arms on the second leaf. Contains the usual lists of kings, royals, officers of state, bank days, etc. Black leather binding in wallet shape... More about London Almanack for the Year of Christ 1837
(Austin, TX: Amistad Press, 1977). (40)pp. One of 75 copies. Illustrated throughout in blue and gray. A collection of poems by Martha D. Fletcher, a poet and teacher from Alabama, that reflect on the natural world. Fine in gilt-stamped navy blue leatherette. (Bradbury, p. 4). (1 7/16 by 1 1/8; 36x30mm). More about Poems
Austin: Amistad Press, (1983). (40)pp., frenchfold. From an edition of 250 copies, this is one of an unknown number bound in leather, signed by Yolanda Carter. Contains many black & white illustrations of dragons from various cultures, reprinted from the 1981 edition of "Treasury of Fantastic and Mythical Creatures," by... More about Dragons. A Universal Myth
Tempe, AZ: Houle, Kelly M., 2008. 14pp. One of 300 copies, signed by the printer, Kelly M. Houle. An English translation of Borges's poem, by Alastair Reid, with a center spread illustrated with an engraving of a library and mystic symbols from Egyptian, Mayan, and other cultures. At the end... More about Poem of the Gifts
South Freeport, ME: Ascensius Press, 2009. 19pp. One of fifty copies, signed by the author, James Lewis, in pencil. The story of the bookplate used by the distinguished collector Estelle Doheney. Tipped in is an example of Mrs. Doheney's bookplate, designed by Rivière & Sons: an elaborately gilt-decorated oval of..... More about Mrs. Doheny's Bookplate
N.p. (1930). (28)ff. An informative watercolor manuscript describing the wing and rudder markings of aircraft from the United States, Latin America, Asia, and Europe. Most of the markings date from around the end of World War I, charting the rise of military aviation. The wing marking included under the description... More about Aircraft Markings
Bristol: Wright & Albright, (c. 1840's). 27pp. An extract from the Biblical Book of Daniel. Bound in glazed brown wrappers, embossed to a woven design. Fine. (1 5/16 by 1 1/16; 33x26mm). More about Daniel's Confession and Prayer
Limoges: Dalpayrat et Depelley, (1886). Three 16mo. volumes, each with an engraved frontispiece of Christ on the Cross. 124; 124; 124pp. The text blocks are bordered on two sides by engraved devices with a floral and animal motif. The first and third volumes are beautifully bound in blue morocco with... More about Petit Mois de Sainte Joseph. Together with: Petit Mois du Sacré-Coeur and Petit Mois de Marie
London: Wells Gardner, Darton & Co., 1901. 149pp. + (1)p. ads. One of the "Midget" series of miniature books published by Wells Gardner, Darton & Co. With portrait frontispiece and fifteen plates. Light soiling to cover, small ownership inscription to front endpaper, else fine in cream boards with red and... More about Life of Edward VII, King of Great Britain and Ireland, and Emperor of India
Skokie, IL: Black Cat Press, 1977. (28)pp., frenchfold. One of 249 copies privately printed for the author. Illustrated with drawings in two colors by Elizabeth W. Houghlin. Fine in leather-backed decorated-paper boards. (2 5/8 by 2; 66x51mm). More about April Stories
Chicago: Black Cat Press, 1962. 84pp. One of 300 copies, designed and with typography by Norman Forgue. A humorous essay about famous book collectors, many of them authors, who allowed their delight in collecting to carry them beyond the limits of moderation into gluttony. Very fine in gilt-stamped green leather... More about Book Gluttons and Book Gourmets. With a Digression on Hungry Authors
Chicago: Black Cat Press, (1971). (x)pp., (16)ff., (6)pp., frenchfold. One of 200 copies, with an introduction by the proprietor of the Press, Norman W. Forgue. Printed on Japanese paper with the fifteen Bewick vignettes printed from the original blocks in the collection of R. Hunter Middleton. This title is the... More about Thomas Bewick, Vignettes from Birds, Quadrupeds and Fables
Chicago: Black Cat Press, (1966). 43pp. A collection of quotes from the likes of Franklin D. Roosevelt to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Benjamin Franklin to Robert Browning. Bound in red paper wrappers with starry endpapers. Fine. (2 5/16 by 2 1/2; 58x64mm). More about A Testament of Freedom. Ideas Worth Fighting For
Chicago: Black Cat Press, (1968). 58pp. One of 250 copies. Nichols' discussion of Caravaggio's own artistic light, accompanied by illustrations and initials in blue, black, and white. Book designed by Norman W. Forgue and printed by Charles Young at the Norman Press. Bound in blue leatherette with gilt stamping to... More about Let There Be Light
Chicago: Black Cat Press, 1968. (60)pp. One of 300 copies. Extracts on the art from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works, compiled by Shaw. Fine in gilt-stamped dark green leather by Bela Blau with metal relief of Holmes' profile. Bookplate. (Bradbury, p. 22). (2 5/8 by 2 1/16; 65x52mm). More about The Whole Art of Detection
Skokie: Black Cat Press, (1976). (46)pp. One of 249 copies. The last two pages are a typefounder's variation from an 1882 specimen book which is a delightful ABC. Slightest rubbing to exterior and expected wear along spine, else fine in brown leather with gilt title and decoration. (2 9/16 by 1 3/4; 66x45 mm). More about The Quick Brown Fox
Chicago: Black Cat Press, (1966). 76pp. One of 250 copies with photographic illustrations throughout. Born out of Norman Forgue's interest in trains, both small and large, and written by his daughter's father-in-law, this was the only miniature book on railroading at the time of its publication. Very fine in full... More about A History of the Cadiz Short Line Railroad. Edited, with Additional Text by Norman W. Forgue
