Soon after Charlotte M. Smith donated her collection of miniature books to the University Libraries, it became apparent that a machine-readable file of the collection was necessary so that the records could be manipulated without disordering the arrangement of the books themselves. The physical sorting and organizing of some 3,000 tiny items would be impractical.
Simultaneously, the incentive to prepare an exhibition of titles from the collection began to emerge with the understanding that an exhibition of miniature books would require many more items to fill the space available than would their normal counterparts. Miniature items, especially books, are fascinating. Even though the books can be viewed and appreciated as individual works of artistry and craftsmanship, there is much more to them than can be gleaned through a display window. On the other hand, an inordinate number of explanatory or expository labels would soon overwhelm the titles themselves. Consequently, we decided to prepare a list describing the items selected for the exhibition.
A card file created and maintained by Charlotte Smith has immensely simplified the task of creating this catalog. She included a substantial amount of information she had recorded from publishers' announcements and book dealers' catalogs, as well as from her experience as a collector, author and publisher of miniature books.
The description for each item includes the bibliographic information (author, title, place, publisher, date, size and pagination) as well as publisher and printing details found in the colophon. Supplemental information was copied directly or paraphrased from the data that Charlotte maintained in her card file. Some items in the exhibition are listed but not fully described in the catalog because commentary is unnecessary. Also, individual titles in the miniature bookcases are not listed; however a separate inventory with brief bibliographic information is available in the Special Collections Department.
Finally, the assistance of Susan Hansen and Becca Morgan in the compilation and preparation of this catalog is greatly appreciated and gratefully acknowledged.
Richard M. Kolbet
Heather Arbaugh
Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
June, 1996
Andrucko, Karoly. Jama . Senta, 1987. 1/4" x 1/4". [42 pp.]
Engraved woodblocks printed by hand in one hundred copies. Bound in brown leatherette, gold-stamped title on cover and spine.
Balliett, Whitney. Duke Ellington Remembered . Newport Beach, CA, Gold Stein Press, 1981. 2 1/2" x 1 1/4". 48 pp.
COLOPHON: 750 copies of this book have been printed from Bembo type in Old Kentucky paper by Joh. Enschedé en Zonen, Haarlem, Holland, and bound by Reliure d'Art du Centre S.A., Limoges, France . Bound in indigo lambskin. Front and back covers and spine are gold- stamped.
Christmas with Dickens . London, Collins, Clear-Type Press, n.d. 3 7/8" x 2 3/4". [96 pp.]
Bound in brown leather, stamped with orange and gold, gold on spine.
Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities . Press of Ward Schori, 1987. 1 1/2" x 1 3/8". [110 pp.]
COLOPHON: Limited edition of 90 copies. Typesetting and printing by Raymond E. Miles. Production by Ward K. Schori. Marbled end papers by Norma Rubovits. Binding by Hugo Grummich. Signed by Ward K. Schori. The book was composed in Linotype 4 pt. Century Expanded. It was printed by hand on a Vandercook proof press . Bound in black leather, border and title on front and end covers in gold. Title and author on spine.
The Digits . Santa Ana, CA., Log Anne Press, 1980. 7/8" x 5/8". [16 pp.]
Cloth bound. Pasted-on cover.
Olympic Oath . Munich, Graphische Fachhandlung, Waldman and Pfetzner, 1964. 1/4" x 1/4" [16 pp.]
Full black morocco leather with silver Olympic insignia. Offset printing, in seven languages. With plexiglass box which includes magnifying glass.
Sayings of Gertrude Stein . Spartanburg, SC, Kitemaug Press, 1982. 7/8" x 1". [52 pp.]
100 copies printed. Bound in brown leatherette. Boxed.
Terence. Publius Terentius Afer . London, G. Pickering, 1822. 3 1/2" x 2". 220 pp.
Full red leather binding. One of 28 volumes in Pickering's Diamond Classic Series, printed by Corrall with 4 1/2 point type. Another copy, with same dimensions but in full green leather binding is diplayed with the magnifying bar.
L'Amour Et Les Belles Pour L'Anne . Paris, Chez Marcilly, 1818. 1 1/16" x 3/4".64 pp.
Text engraved with eight full-page illustrations. Full red morocco with gilt center ornament within gilt fillets. A nice copy of one of the "almanachs microscopiques", miniature almanacs printed in France in the period from 1767 to 1850.
Aunt Laura. Bird Stories . Buffalo, Breed & Butler, 1863. 1 7/8" x 1 3/8". 61 pp.
Pictorial blue cloth cover.
Aunt Laura. Silver Medal . Buffalo, Breed & Butler, 1863. 1 5/8" x 1 3/8". 62 pp.
Pictorial beige cloth cover.
Barnes, William, John Clare, and Richard Jeffries. Summer . Bexhill-on-Sea, England, Silver Thimble Books, 1986. 2 7/16" x 1 15/16". [26 pp.]
Number 1 of 50 copies signed by Gordon Murray. Bound in gold needlepoint with a large rose and four buds with green leaves and a green border stitched on front cover. A fore-edge of a floral bouquet painted on double folds of paper. Each of the four endpapers is a different watercolor floral arrangement. The double title page has a woman sitting at the water's edge with a rose in her hand and white iris in front of her. Other illustrations of flowers, animals, and boats are all done in delicate watercolors.
Boeing, Bertha. Boeing 80A: A Journal of the First Flight, August 10, 1928 . Angry Mountain Press, 1987. 1 7/8" x 2 5/8". 60 pp.
COLOPHON: 200 copies printed in Garamont types at the Lyceum Press and bound by Bela Blau. This is number 10 . Illustrated. Silver foil stamped blue-gray linen over boards. An important first printing of a well-written report of an historic flight with an appendix of an "American Mercury" story on air mail service by H.L. Mencken.
Cabinet of Lilliput . 4 volumes.
This 12 volume complete library was intended for older children and consisted of two or three "Instructive Stories" in each volume. Published in 1802 by John Harris of London, each book comprising over 90 pages measured 2 3/4" x 2 11/16". Shown in the display are four volumes from the set, which is incomplete.
Arthur and George.
Alonzo and Indolence Reclaimed.
The Spoilt Children, The Disinterested Arab, and Conceit.
Tom Restless and The History of Theodore.
Conneen, Jane W. The Winding Roads of Ireland . Bath, PA, Little Farm Workshop, 1990. 2" x 2 1/4". [30 pp.]
COLOPHON: The illustrations and text were photo reduced 50% onto intaglio plates and printed by hand on etching press of an edition of 150 copies this is copy 17. Written and illustrated by Jane Conneen . With nine hand-colored illustrations. Bound in green cloth. Paper labels on front and spine. In sleeve.
Dante Alighieri. La Divina Commedia . Venice, Nicolo Misserini, 1629. 3 1/2" x 1 7/8". 510 pp.
Dark brown binding with gold decorations on spine, raised bands, marbled endpapers, decorative title page.
Erte Maquettes . Hyattsville, MD, Rebecca Press, 1984. 2 7/8" x 2 1/8". [64 pp.]
COLOPHON: Printing and color separations: Colortone Press. Typesetting: Barton Graphics. Binding: Green Dragon Bindery. Silver Work on Deluxe Binding: Freeflight Jewelers. Erte Maquettes is published in an edition of 2200 of which copies 1-200 are specially bound in a deluxe edition. This is number 15 . Signed by Erte and Bingham. A full color miniature collection of 42 color designs executed by the artist for Harper's Bazaar at the crest of the Art Deco Era, 1932-7. Never before published in either book or magazine form. The maquettes included in this limited edition are reproduced on acid-free Cameo Dull paper, with all the sensuous elegance and brilliant color of the originals. Each handbound in black silk with silver calfskin accents. The deluxe, signed edition, is bound in bright blue snakeskin inlaid with seed pearls, and encased in a specially designed silver miniature. The title is stamped in silver on a black leather label on the front cover and there is a tiny diamond over the "e" in Erte. Case with clasp, black tassel and blue snakeskin is 3 1/2" x 2 3/4" and 3/4" deep.
Fitzgerald, Edward. Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam . Glasgow, Scotland, David Bryce and Son, 1904. 2 1/8" x 1 3/8". 59 pp.
In English verse by Edward Fitzgerald. Special copy with hand-colored title paper and extra-illustration. On blank flyleaf and endpaper with photographs of other tiny editions of the text. Original richly gilt-stamped fawn leather. From the collection of Thomas Warburton of Manchester.
Guiney, Corinne. A Pressing Problem Being the True Story of the Printer's Devil . Berkeley, CA, Wild Hare Press, 1982. 3" x 2". [27 pp.]
COLOPHON: This book was designed and printed by hand at Wild Hare Press. The text is Deepdene 6 point set by Mackenzie-Harris of San Francisco and printed on Rives lightweight. The etchings were created especially for the story and were printed on a Griffin etching press by Corinne Guiney. This book is number 7 in an edition of 100 . Signed by Corinne Guiney. A humorous tale told in verse about a printer and his encounter with the Devil. One hundred letterpress printing terms throughout the text, set in italic, are glossaries at the back of the book in a devil's dictionary. The poem was written by Corinne Guiney and the deluxe version is illustrated with six of her etchings; tipped in and protected with tissue. Bound in black leather with endpapers of Turkish marbled Antique Ingres paper. Both etchings and text are printed by hand. Leather slipcase of devilish red leather.
Harrop, Rene, Poul Jourgensen, Eric Leiser, John Merwin, S.A. Neff, Jr., and Ernest Schwiebert. A Book of Small Flies . 2 vol. Arlington, VT, Issac Oelgart, 1983. 2 1/4" x 2 7/8".
COLOPHON: Frontispiece by Al Barker. A Book of Small Flies is limited to sixty sets of which this is 19 . Edition of 60 sets of which 47 are for sale. Volume One contains the text and Volume Two displays binding featuring eight mounted flies, specially tied for this book by the respective authors. Set in Monotype Baskerville and printed in two colors on English handmade Canterbury paper from Hayle Mill by Darrell Hyder. Decorations at the end of the essays were drawn by Elisabeth Hyder. Frontispiece etched, printed, and colored by Al Barker. The signatures and Fabriano Ingres endpapers have been sewn on vellum slips. The head and tail bands have been sewn with two colors of silk thread. Both volumes bound in full Hewitt niger, gilt-tooled, with a slipcase covered with Fabriano Ingres, all by Gray Parrot. Book designed by publisher.
Irving, Washington. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow . Hyattsville, MD, Rebecca Press, 1983. 2 7/8" x 2 1/4". 120 pp.
COLOPHON: Published on October 31, 1983 in the bicentennial year of the birth of Washington Irving. Set in 6 pt Fairfield Lintoype with initial caps in Fry's Ornamented. Printed on Curtis colophon paper. Illustrated by Sarah Chamberlain. Printed by Jane Pomeroy at the Burntcoat Press. Bound at the Green Dragon Bindery. Endpapers for the deluxe edition marbled by Christopher Weimann. Designed by Rebecca Saady Bingham. Of an edition of 150, numbers 1-35 are deluxe copies. This is number 4 . Signed by Rebecca Saady Bingham. Featuring original wood engravings and fore-edged painting by Sarah Chamberlain. The book is printed letterpress in two colors. Some pages are in three colors. In addition to wood engravings by Sarah Chamberlain and photoengraved details used as decorations, a ten-cent Legend of Sleepy Hollow postage stamp is tipped in as an illustration. Full Oasis leather binding with leather onlay and raised bands on spine in two-color leather box, a Sarah Chamberlain illustration stamped on the cover, special endpapers marbled in miniature by Christopher Weimann.
Koran . ca.16th or 17th century. 1 3/8" x 1 3/8".
A manuscript, octagonal banner Koran with sixteen lines of very fine Arabic calligraphy per page, within a gold border. The book measures 1 1/8" thick and is lacking several leaves and one cover. It is housed in a drum-shaped red morocco box with a metal clasp. There is a metal loop on one end of the case, which was used to hang it as an amulet on Islamic battle flags. The leaves are bound along one edge in maroon morocco with the remaining cover decorated in gilt.
Palmer, Marjorie. 1918-1923 German Hyperinflation . Brooklyn, NY, Trader's Press, 1967. 2 7/8" x 2 1/2". 60 pp.
COLOPHON: First edition of 2500 copies. Printed by Willis McDonald and Company, Inc., New York, NY. Bound in Genuine German Mark.
La Rochefoucauld, Francois Duc de. Maximes et Reflexions Morales . Paris, Henri Didot, 1827. 2 5/8" x 1 5/8". 96 pp.
The first book to use the smallest type to date. The font designed by Henri Didot and called "microscopic" was a wonder of typography at the time, and this book is one of the most distinguished miniatures of the early 19th century. Red morocco ruled in gold with blind-stamped border of the covers. Spine gold-tooled and blue silk endpapers. Bookplate of Edwin B. Holden, although this copy is purported to have been owned by Wilbur Macey Stone with his little slipcase made to house the book. The outstanding example of French Miniature printing. On the right hand bottom corner of the initial leaf of each signature will be found the name "H. Didot" in much smaller type.
The Royal Bijou Birthday Book: A Selection from the Poetical Works of Shakespeare, Wordsworth, et al . London, Eyre and Spottiswoode, ca.1900. 2 1/4" x 1 3/4". 377 pp.
With a silver binding on front cover a hall-marked silver plaque showing a raised intricate design of lily of the valley petals and leaf sprays with "Birthdays" written in calligraphy in center, gilt edges. A selection from the poetical works of Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Hood, Tennyson, Moore, Burns, Cowper, Byron, and Milton. Printed in black and red lettering. Red leather with gold title and decorations on spine.
The Royal Pocket Diary and Engagement Book for 1905, with Short Readings from the Poet for Every Day . London, Eyre and Spottiswoode (Bible Warehouse) Ltd., 1905. 2 1/8" x 1 7/8". 415 pp.
With a raised flower in silver on front cover.
Slight, Henry. True Stories of the H.M. Ship Royal George, From 1746 to 1841 . Ryde, Isle of Wight, E. Hartnall, 1841. 3 7/16" x 2 1/8". 120 pp.
Bound in wood from the sunken ship.
Walker, Anne. Coquelicots . Paris, Bromer Press, 1986. 2 3/8" x 1 13/16". [10 pp.]
Edition of 5 copies; this is #2. French-fold. A hand-painted and calligraphied manuscript miniature book by Walker. Signed by the author/artist. Hand-painted label and wrappers and housed in a slipcase. Anne Walker is the American-born wife of the French artist Bertrand Dorny and has lived in Paris for over thirty years. She is noted for her etchings of woodland scenes done in soft, warm colors. This is her first miniature book.
Weimann, Christopher. Marbling in Miniature . Los Angeles, CA, Dawson's Book Shop, 1980. 3" x 2 1/4". [34 pp.]
COLOPHON: 350 copies printed and bound by Christopher Weimann with assistance from Muir Dawson, Stephen Tabor, Ingrid Weimann, Rene Patron, and Pall Bohne . Signed by Christopher Weimann. 18 leaves with 12 tipped in samples of original marbling, marbled boards. The first book on miniature marbling.
Weiss, Dianne. A Carousel . Figment Press, 1986. 2 3/16" x 2 3/4".
No. 3 of 100 copies. Opened up the book forms a carousel with hand-colored pictures of 10 carousel animals. By pushing a circle on the front cover, a music box plays a carousel tune. Tied with a red and green ribbon. Bound in blue cloth with a colored label into which the music box is set.
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