What size do you consider miniature?

Fits in the palm of an adult's hand?

Hi Amy!

That sounds like a good enough descriptor, and from the group photo, I'd say the admin would concur.
Hasn't been much going on in this back corner of LT. Maybe if we add some lamps and put some music on...

and get out the magnifying glass. ;)

I loved the photos you posted in the other thread, 2wonderY. That's what made me join the group. I've been wracking my brain, trying to remember if I have any books that would qualify as miniature, but I don't think the Brady Bunch Guide to Life stocking stuffer book really fits the bill.....

I did once make a miniature story once, kind of bound like a book but not quite..... A hobby of mine is Artist Trading Cards, which are little 2.5 x 3.5" pieces of artwork (size of a baseball card) that people make to trade with each other. I printed out a short story I'd written and got it into booklet order so I could size it, cut it, and "bind" (sew) it onto a card backing measuring the right size. It was fun, but I'll be darned if I can remember how I got the pages to print in the correct order so they would end up in a folded booklet.....

This article on AbeBooks

http://www.abebooks.com/books/miniature-miniaturization-tiny-prayer-bindings/sma...

gives dimensions on a number of the examples at the end, of which the largest are 4" x 3" and the smallest is 3/16” x 7/32"!

The brief video at the bottom defines miniature books as being under 2".

I own Miniature Books: 4000 Years of Tiny Treasures. I'll have to see whether my library system has the other reference books mentioned at the bottom of that page.
Is that a recent AbeBooks page, Staffordcastle? I must have been dropped from their emailing list, as it's been a while since I've gotten any of their mailings.

It doesn't seem to be dated; I found it by googling "miniature books".

A miniature should be anything you the collector want it to be. Publishers and sellers call many things miniature which are not. It's relative. The Miniature Book Society declares that 3" is the standard, but there are many exceptions. So what is a book? I think of a book as something with pages that turn on which words or pictures appear. Should miniature books adhere to these criteria as well? But what about blank books? There are also "dummy" books, a term for items just made to look like books. I have one of ivory, one made of marble, and a few that are just paper covered bits of styrofoam. One of my favorite "miniature books" is a complete Bible reproduced on a piece of ultra-microfiche, the size of a postage stamp. It requires a 100x-power microscope, but is perfectly readable. It's miniature, but is it a book? Well, it is made to fit into a slot in a stiff-paper folder that explains how, and by whom it was made. I have a few very tiny items that are actually printed and also require magnification. They display the printers skill and artistry. In my opinion, a book's dimensions can be way out of bounds, but still qualify as a miniature if its size and shape relates to the text. An example in my collection is "The Golden Rule" ISBN 978-1-59583-057-9. Its only 2 inches tall, but is the size, shape and depth of an 8 inch ruler. Each page a different version of the "golden rule" as expressed by various religions and cultures around the world. Is this a "miniature book"? For me, it is. To other collectors, librarians, and purists, perhaps not.

>8 fredheid: I love the description of your bible on ultra-microfiche. I wouldn't hesitate to grab that for my own miniature bookcase.
The Golden Rule by Harold and Sandra Darling is also an interesting example of a miniature book which does not fit the formal rules of a miniature book, but which certainly fits my idea of one.

The largest 'miniature book' that I own is The Building of Stonehenge 64 x 76 x 4 mm which is about 2 mm too tall to fit on the shelf, so I place it on it's side over the top of some other miniature books.

I do have some blank coil-bound sketch books which I also include in my collection, as I intend to individualise them by filling them in myself.

other items which are definitely not books, but which exist on my bookcase are packs of miniature playing cards, and a picture framed portrait of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I even have a tiny pair of brass candlesticks, some porcelain vases and even a miniature working mantle clock. I'm still searching for a tiny bust of Shakespeare! It can become a bit obsessive after a while.
The difference between a doll's house and my bookcase is that a bookcase in a doll's house is rarely functional and only exists as embellishment; whereas my miniature bookcase IS the main feature and the 'objects' are there only as embellishment to the books. But I appreciate that these are rules which I have imposed on myself to justify my own obsession. ;)

>9 Sylak: Your bookshelf display sounds right cozy. I hope you have a comfy armchair with a threadwork cushion as well. A bottle of brandy?

I didn't know there was a Sandra Darling! Huh. And another new title by Laughing Elephant.

eta: I've tried to find a photo of Harold Darling before and struck out. I went looking again today and discovered that Sandra Darling is much better known as Alexandra Day.

>10 2wonderY: Cognac, actually. ;)
...and it is itself a miniature flask designed to look like a miniature book. Nice profiling. :)



I've been toying with adding it to LT for some time now. But, following >8 fredheid: argument defining what a book really is (one which I have used myself in the past, on this site), I may well now do so.
I know a fellow LTer who has added his statue of Cthulhu! (you know who you are ;).

>11 Sylak: Nice!

I've added books that only exist in fictional realms.

>12 2wonderY: Yes. I have been tempted to do that for some of Wes Anderson's fictional books from The Royal Tenenbaums.

I do admit not having been able to resist adding some fictional book stores to LT as easter eggs. here

>13 Sylak: *sputter* Marvelous!

We should probably continue in this vein elsehere.

Several old quiet groups that might apply:
http://www.librarything.com/groups/booksinbooks
http://www.librarything.com/groups/bookspotting
http://www.librarything.com/groups/snoopingtheshelvesof

>11 Sylak:

Wherever did you get that flask??!!

>15 amysisson: I picked that one up at our local flea market. I'm guessing that they were produced during the 50s or 60s. The W. R. Paterson company made these in two sizes, a standard and these cute miniatures. They are getting rarer, but were produced in such quantities that they do turn up from time to time. The company produced many different spirits in this series and each stoneware 'book' is a different colour glaze.
Many different manufacturers produced similar novelty bottles (and still do). Books were always popular, as were barrel shapes, ships and busts and even figurines. Obviously I favour the book shapes best.
Strangely enough I don't even drink alcohol! :)

There were of course also the Penguin 60s.
Although not strictly 'miniatute', but certainly small (138 x 105 mm), and each book contained between 54-92 pages.

The Folio Society also produced some very small versions of their slip-case volumes in the mid-90s. You can catch up on the thread here on the Folio Society devotees group.

I've long been tempted to get a few of the Folio books for my miniature bookcase as miniature coffee table books. ;)