Miniature Books from Bromer Booksellers

Cambridge, MA: Moses King, 1882. (12)pp. Eighth thousand. Printed entirely on thin birch bark, with illustrations by the Boston engraver J.S. Conant. The front cover bears the illustration of a birch tree with the year 1880 carved into the bark, and on the rear cover cherubs strip birch bark from a tree. Lummis created these unusual miniatures while he… Read more about this item

Winterport, ME: Borrower's Press, 1977. Bernier, Jane. 32pp. One of 300 copies signed and numbered by Jane Bernier, proprietor of the press. With tiny black and white line illustrations featuring all the signs of the zodiac. Lists character traits for every sign. Fine in quarter leather and marbled boards. (5/8 by 1/2; 16x14mm).

Winterport, ME: Borrower's Press, 1979. Epstein, Amanda. 24ff. One of 300 copies, signed by the printer, Jane Bernier. With twenty tiny, delicately hand-colored plates by Amanda Epstein. Very fine in deep blue leather with a design of flying swallows stamped in gold. (3/4 by 5/8; 20x15mm).

Boston: Anne & David Bromer, 1983. (xviii), 46pp. Second edition. One of 150 copies. This famous miniature book of Horace's songs was first printed at the Ashendene Press in 1923 on a commission from Queen Mary for the library of her magnificent Doll's House. Of that first printing, only a handful of copies survive today, making it a book… Read more about this item

Chillicothe, OH: Lummis, Charles F., 1882. (12)pp. Seventh thousand. Printed entirely on thin birch bark, with illustrations by the Boston engraver J.S. Conant. The front cover bears the illustration of a birch tree with the year 1880 carved into the bark, and on the rear cover cherubs strip birch bark from a tree. Lummis created these unusual miniatures while… Read more about this item

Winterport, ME: Borrower's Press, 1978. Bernier, Jane. 37pp. One of 300 copies, signed and numbered by Jane Bernier. The text of the play has been converted to a narrative story and is printed in this tiny format, with two full-page, hand-colored illustrations. Some wear to edges, else near fine in marbled boards with a gilt-decorated leather spine. (Bradbury, p.… Read more about this item

(Watertown, MA): Anne & David Bromer, 1979. Chamberlain, Sarah. 19ff. One of 125 copies. Signed by the artist, Sarah Chamberlain. Contains fifteen of Chamberlain's intricate engravings of exotic animals such as the panda, koala, Siberian tiger, and platypus. Printed on Troya paper in two colors. A very fine copy in the first binding of grid-patterned paper boards and matching… Read more about this item

Paris: G. Masson, 1894. 16mo. 20pp. Inscribed by the author at the front free endpaper. Seven engraved vignettes depicting some of the high spots from the collection of Georges Salomon, to accompany Tissandier's scholarly summation of his pre-20th century miniature books. Bound in plain paper covers, with additional publisher's tan dust wrapper. In original glassine. Mild overall chipping, else… Read more about this item

Boston: Anne & David Bromer, 1984. Sweet, Melissa. (31)ff. One of thirty copies. A whimsical ABC manuscript, drawing on the fertile soil of gardening for its inspiration. The book is lettered and illustrated by Melissa Sweet, the work done in vibrant colors entirely by hand. Sweet went on to illustrate numerous children's books, twice receiving the Caldecott Honor for… Read more about this item

(Japan, 1930. Three volumes. (7); (5); (5)ff. Two volumes, of smaller stature, show various potted flowers, and the third offers various playful depictions of bicycles and their riders. All printed on paper that has been lacquered to preserve the brightly colored images. All bound in full decorative cloth over boards. Fine. (Smaller volumes measure 9/16 by 7/16 in.; 16x13mm.… Read more about this item

London: Oxford University Press, 1896. Frowde, Henry. 688pp. One of a "finely printed series" known as the Oxford Miniature Editions, printed by Henry Frowde at the University Press. This copy features an unusual binding of green morocco with a brass plate impressed with a rendering of Raphael's Sistine Madonna onlaid on the front cover. Frontispiece illustration of Christ as… Read more about this item

Moscow: Detizdat, 1938. Konashevich, Vladimir. (10)pp. A miniature, lyrical children's book, with color lithographs illustrating scenes of a child's fond relationship with a toy horse. Kvitko was a Ukranian-born Yiddish-language poet and author; his literary and ethnic status made him a target of the Stalinist government, and he was executed in 1952 during what has now become known as… Read more about this item

(New Britain, CT: Art Press, 1971. Massmann, Robert. (16)pp., frenchfold. One of 50 copies. The Foreword by Massmann is signed by him. Hunter's account of the post-Civil War reuse of Egyptian mummies' wrappings by a Maine paper merchant is bound in stiff wrappers in the shape of a sarcophagus with the profile of a mummy at the top. The… Read more about this item

Jamaica, NY: Minia Press, 1943. Wood, Edmund S.. (35)ff. Liberally and lightheartedly illustrated throughout in black & white. Bound in red cloth with a turtle stamped in gold on the front cover. Includes scarce original red cardboard slipcase. A fine copy, slipcase only slightly rubbed. (2 by 1 5/8; 51x42mm).

(N.p., n.d.). Two-door bookcase with single lower drawer. Tassles to door handles. "Made in Japan" sticker underneath. Fine. (5 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 2 1/8 in.; 139x115x53 mm).

Chatham, NY: EDitions, 1991. Hutchins, Edward. (48)pp. Signed by the artist. Illustrations in orange complement the text, in black, of a tale of acrobatic, artistic, and otherwise entertaining animals; an abstraction, as cited at the colophon, of Isaiah 11:6-9, which is also printed on a fold-out sheet tipped-in to rear. Fine in green paper wrappers and comb binding. (2… Read more about this item

Greenfield, MA: Greenfield High School, 1935. 76pp. No limitation indicated, although this volume is number 127. Printed and bound by William Merriott and William Thayer as their senior project at Greenfield High, under the direction of their teacher, Anthony T. Stavaski. Concludes with the well-trodden anxiety over the state of handwriting in an age of mechanical reproduction. Fine in… Read more about this item

Boston: Carter, Hendee and Co, 1834. (32)pp. A pocket-sized almanac with great aphoristic value; maxims accompany the tabulations of the months, there is a note providing "Knowledge of Law for Families," on the legal relation between a husband and wife, and the final leaves relay some sayings from Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack. The keen observer will notice the… Read more about this item

Hudson, NY: Edward Hutchins, 1992. Hutchins, Edward. One of thirty copies, signed by the artist. Fourteen double-page spreads, accordion-fold, urging the reader to calm their worried mind. Provides a chair for the purpose, to which the book is affixed. Fine. Held in acrylic box. (1 15/16 by 1 15/16; 49x49mm).

Firenze: David Passigli, 1843. Three volumes. (iv) (546); (iv) (556); (iv), 564pp. Frontispiece portrait and one engraved plate in volume one; volumes two and three each have a single engraved plate. Curiously uncommon miniature edition of Ariosto's epic, known only in three institutional holdings (two in the US). Welsh notes two editions: one bearing the date of the present… Read more about this item