The Somerville News revels in the miniature book.
From the article...
For the most part, today’s miniature books are novelty items, but they didn’t start out that way. Throughout the 1400s and 1500s books were very expensive luxury items that were affordable only to the wealthy, privileged few. Because books had to be portable, mostly for students and people on pilgrimages, they began making them smaller. Some of the books measured four or five inches, but most were even smaller than that.
In the 1700s and 1800s, miniatures began to be made mostly as novelty items. They used less paper and they were made in order to be carried or to be used as gifts. Making a miniature book is very hard work because of the detail involved, but when it’s done right, the result can be truly amazing. Today there are still people who design wonderful miniatures. Bromer Booksellers in Boston publishes classics in miniature and carries limited editions. St. Onge, from Worcester, produced a whole series of miniatures.
Bibles are some of the more popular miniature books. There is one called The Thumb Bible that is literally the size of your thumb. One of my customers collects only miniature Bibles, and has 3,000 of them on little spice shelves throughout her house. Each Bible is a little different from the others.
No comments:
Post a Comment