Among the children's books at a sale I found a tiny little volume with
board covers. I had never seen one so small. It's called 'The
'Midget' London, and was published by Wells Gardner, Darton & Co.
Of London in 1901. It contains forty-four photographs of London and
gives a concise and thoughtful history of each of the buildings,
monuments and parks mentioned. The script is very easy to read too
for so tiny a book.
When
I brought this book home I googled it and found to my surprise that
there is a whole world of little books out there; from small to tiny,
and all sizes in between, paperback and hardback, fiction and
non-fiction. Just key in 'miniature books' into the search box on
E-Bay and you will see that pages and pages of these little books
appear. Some are very affordable, and others are hundreds of Euro in
price, for reasons of age, condition or rarity or sometimes all
three. If there is anybody reading this who has an addictive
personality, rein yourself in, because it would be very easy to get
hooked on these books.
One
point I would mention here is that in the category of miniature books
you will often find doll's house books, but in the main these are
just covers with the titles and authors inscribed on them, and very
few pages inside, if any. In other words, these are usually not
real books at all, just fronts like those which used to be bought
for some big house libraries for show purposes: imitation books. As
with everything, there are exceptions, but check before you buy.
Small books you have quite likely come across yourself already are the Collins Gem series, very colourful, sturdy, little volumes with laminated covers, all non-fiction in subjects such as yoga, gems, butterflies, birds and so on. The drawings and/or photographs in these books are very attractive and the print very easy on the eye. I have found that some of the covers crease easily, but other than that, I think they are grand little books, handy to carry in a pocket and easy to read anywhere. These are among the larger miniature books that you will see.
There
is a series called Mini Classics, aimed at children, and they are
likewise very colourful and the print is clear and easily read by the
age group at which they are aimed. They are very soundly bound, with
dust jackets, and no doubt they will become collectors' items as they
age. Two I own are: “Beauty and the Beast” Retold by Stephanie
Laslett, illustrated by Alison Winfield, and “Little Red Riding
Hood”, also retold by Stephanie Laslett but illustrated by Martin
Aitchison. The publishers are Shooting Star Press, Inc., New York,
but I can't find a date on either book.
Running
Press publish a series of these miniature books. They come in all
subjects, non-fiction again. They are very little bigger than “The
'Midget' London”, that is, very small indeed. My two favourites
are:
“Home
- A Little Book of Comfort” published in 1996, which consists of
poetry and prose excerpts by various writers all around the theme of
home. There are the most lovely little illustrations in colour, by
Barbara Strawser, whom I looked up online and found is a very popular
artist in the U.S.; the covers and inside papers are also her work.
It is a refreshing, cheerful little book, with a ribbon bookmark and
usually a little key on the end of this as a piquant finishing touch
This is missing on mine, and the ribbon is a little threadbare, but I
love it anyway. To anyone who has ever loved a home, or maybe is only just
hoping to have a home of their own, this must appeal; it would make a
lovely housewarming present too.
The
other one I really like is called “Native American Wisdom”
published by Running Press, Philadelphia and London, 1993, and with
photographs by Edward S. Curtis. In the introduction we are told
that Curtis published a “twenty-volume masterwork: The North
American Indian.....This book presents some of Curtis's most striking
photographs. Accompanying them are statements of cultural values,
beliefs and attitudes from a number of Native Americans who lived and
experienced traditional tribal life in the years between the Civil
War and 1930, the year Curtis finished The North American Indian.
Their words preserve the wisdom, and the photographs give individual
faces to history. “
These Running Press miniatures are truly lovely little treasures, complete with hard covers and dust jackets.
Not
all of these mini books are non-fiction: Del Prado publishers of
Madrid produce hundreds of fiction classics from around the world in
miniature. I bought a volume of tales of Tchekov in this series myself, but
ended up giving it to someone who loved it. Once again, the text is
clear and easy to read. There are no illustrations for reasons of
lack of space, obviously, but they are very well bound. However, I
think they would have benefited from a ribbon marker, unless it is
just mine that had none, because it is easy to lose your place in a
book this size, as the pages are so tight that they close quickly if
you do not hold them open.
There
really are little jewels among miniature books. Most of them
would be way beyond my price range. On E-Bay I bought “Browning –
Thoughts – selected by Louey Chisholm” published by TC and EC
Jack of London & Edinburgh. 'Ivory Booklets' is written inside,
but I can't find a date, but it's definitely at least a hundred years old. Mine did have a red ribbon bookmark which
has become detached, and there is a lot of foxing on the pages. It
was very cheap on E-Bay, so I suppose I can't complain, and I do love
a lot of the writings of the poet Robert Browning that I have read,
which wouldn't be a huge amount. I suppose most of you will have
come across:
“Grow
old along with me!
The
best is yet to be,
The
last of life, for which the first was made:Our times are in His hand
Who saith “A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see
all nor be afraid!”
Rabbi Ben Ezra
Little
excerpts of prose or poetry such as this are very nice to carry in
your pocket or bag for an idle moment. Once again, the print in this pocketsized book is
clear and very legible, probably one of the more important details
to be taken into account in the production
of these little volumes.
Now
that you know about them, see what you can find for yourself, and
happy hunting!
:-)
ReplyDelete