Miniature Book: 4,000 Years of Tiny TreasuresMiniature books, most of which are less than three inches (76.2mm) tall and some almost too small to see, have delighted readers for centuries. Popular because they were easily carried or concealed, these historic books range from tiny thumb bibles to illustrated nursery rhymes. They can be traced back to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, before the invention of printing, when text was handwritten and pictures painted. With the development of the printing press, thinner paper and smaller typefaces, the number of miniature books published increased. Little books served very practical purposes: holding information in easily portable and compact spaces. Nobles, nuns, priests, students and lay persons found it easier to travel with miniature books tucked into pockets or attached to girdles and belts. Painters enjoyed the challenge of making them with extravagant bindings of tortoise shell, leather, sterling silver, embroidery and vellums. Napoleon had a miniature traveling set of Shakespeare's plays. The miniature books found with in this title are drawn from a private collection of over 15,000 books. It is published in association with the Grolier Club, New York. |
Contents
my enchantment with miniature books by Stanley Marcus | 8 |
3 | 44 |
4 | 75 |
Copyright | |
5 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
American artists Bible Bijou Almanac binder birds Book of Hours book printed bookbinding bound Bromer calendars canonical Hours classics COLGATE collection collectors colored Company of Stationers contains copies Dard Hunter David Bryce decorated deluxe edition England English engraved Esther Inglis famous flowers French Führer German gold Grolier Club Guinness World Records hand-colored Hebrew illuminated illustrations images INAUGURAL ADDRESS inches in height Infant's Library issued Japanese King letter Lilliputter London Almanacks manuscript Massachusetts measuring Melissa Sweet microminiature minia miniature books miniature volumes morocco nineteenth century Omar Onge opposite painted paper papermaking Paris photographs poem poet popular portrait prayer president Press primers printed miniature printer Psalms publication published Queen Queen Mary's Dolls Rubaiyat scenes Schloss silver smallest book Stanley Marcus story Testament Thomas Boreman thumb Bibles tiny tion Tokyo Toppan Verbum verse Worcester wrote York