A Few Words About Miniature Books

In the United States, a miniature book is usually considered to be one which is no more than  three inches in size--height, width or thickness. Some collectors do occasionally acquire slightly  larger books. Outside of the United States, books up to four inches are collected as miniature  books.

The very first miniature books were one-of-a-kind manuscripts laboriously lettered by monks and scribes on thin sheets of sheepskin (vellum), for devotional use by royalty and persons of wealth; these works represented months or even years of work. A 13th century miniature Latin book of psalms may be seen in the collection of the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City. This tiny volume is 2 inches high and 1-7/16 inches in width.

Following the invention of moveable type by Johann Gutenberg, miniature books came quickly into widespread use for very practical reasons: size and cost. In 1468, Gutenberg's assistant and successor, Peter Schoffer, printed the first pocket-size book, "Diurnale Moguntinum", fragments of which are held by the Biblioteque Nationale in Paris. Aldus Manutius, a Greek and Latin scholar, was the most important early printer of miniature books. His Aldine Press in Venice printed a number of early classics in very small format around the end of the 15th century. In later years, Benjamin Franklin issued a scaled-down edition of his "Poor Richard's Almanac" for easy carrying. Other almanac publishers in the United States and in Europe followed suit.

Miniature books have served many practical functions over the years, as reading matter for travelers, books for children, religious texts, instruction, politics and propaganda. Adolf Hitler published a large series of illustrated miniature books during World War II.

Queen Anne Boleyn carried to her execution a tiny gold-bound book of psalms which bore a portrait of King Henry, who had ordered her beheading. Queen Elizabeth I published her own miniature book in 1570 with six of her prayers, translated into French, Greek, Italian, and Latin. The famous Bronte sisters wrote books in miniature when they were young. President Abraham Lincoln carried a miniature prayer book when he rode circuit as a lawyer. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a large collection of miniature books in his library at Hyde Park.

Miniature books are published in many parts of the world, including the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Russia, Japan, Canada, Mexico and elsewhere. Most miniature books are not novelties. They are serious expressions of the book arts, often employing experimental and highly innovative techniques. Miniature books are often published as labors of love and are priced well below the actual value of labor, time and materials invested in their production.