Yeoman's in the Fork Blog

Here at Yeoman's, we have a small collection of miniature books (no pun intended). Miniature books measure no larger than 3" in height, width or thickness. If you want to get technical, there are 4 different categories of miniature books, which include the “macro-mini”, or a book between 3” and 4” tall; the “miniature”, a book between 2” and 3” tall; the “micro-mini”, a book between 1” and 2” tall; and the “ultra-micro-mini”, or a book smaller than 1” in all measurements, as classified by the Library of Congress. Some say the first miniature books are over 4000 years old, being tiny clay tablets from Mesopotamia. The first miniature book in the form we see today was published in the mid-1400's. Miniature books are like any book inside, but printed on a smaller scale. They contain all the same text and illustrations a traditional book would contain. This is accomplished by using text small enough to fit the size and form of the pages and by sizing down the illustrations as well. They were made to be read, not just for decoration. They are made in the conventional style and the small size of the books allows for beautiful materials to be used in binding, such as silver filigree, gold, mother-of-pearl, jewels, crystal, onyx, and malachite. Due to the labor necessary to create these books, printings are generally limited to less than 150. In many cases, items are counted in dozens, or are one-of-a-kind.