Hardcover
Dippa, Kippa, Leepa
Pasadena, CA: Tabula Rasa Press, 1981. Miniature book, 2 1/8 x 2"; Letterpress, gilt leather spine, cloth boards, 89 pp, some rubbing to spine. Printed using type Granjon on 100 percent rag, Cranes crest, number 165 of 300 copies, (Bradbury, Tabula Rasa Press 20).
An enchanting tale about a young Greek boy going to American school for the first time and learning the English language. Scarce in the trade. 6 institutional holdings in OCLC.
E-I-E-I-O (Eileen, Eileen, Oh!)
Hyattsville, MD: Rebecca Press and Poole Press, 1992. (20) pp. Approximately 2 3/8 x 2 5/8". LIMITED EDITION of 201 copies. Stiff printed paper wrapprers, stitched. A fine copy. (Bradbury, Rebecca Press, 24)
A collaboration between two well-known miniature publishers, humorous in nature, published for the Conclave 10 of the Miniature Book Society.
Esperanza
(Brooklyn): Soraya Marcano, 1996. (4) pp. Approximately 2 9/16 x 2", oblong. LIMITED EDITION of 3, this being #3. Printed paper over boards with metallic rectangle on cover, accordion fold, illustrated, a short poem in Spanish, signed by the publisher, in fine condition. (Bradbury, Marcano 3)
Soraya Marcano was born in Puerto Rico in 1965 and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. Her work includes mixed media, writing, objects, and digital work. Marcano's scarce miniature artist's books are all written, illustrated, printed and bound by her using various techniques including collagraph, linocut, handmade paper, stenciling, etching, and computer generated images and type. Her mixed media artwork has been exhibited internationally and it is represented in various public and private collections.
Ethical Setting
Dallas, TX: Aredian Press, 2019. Approximately 2 1/4 x 2 1/4". First edition, LIMITED EDITION of 10 copies. Design binding by Patrice Miller of Aredian Press, black cloth over boards with silver spider web design, paper title label on removable band, accordion fold, printed on translucent vellum and Neenah Classic Stipple, signed and numbered by the publisher on the colophon, in fine condition.
This John Dos Passos (1896 - 1970) quotation is from The Theme is Freedom (1956). Patrice Miller's work has found its way to private and university collections, in the states and abroad. Human foibles, nature’s panoply, and artistic cleverness cannot help but inform future work. She continues to bind, and rebind, in Dallas, Texas.
Eulogies to the late President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Delivered in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol, November 24, 1963
New Britain, CT: J.L.Kapica, 1964. 30 pp. Approximately 2 1/2 x 2". LIMITED EDITION, although this is not one of the 50 numbered copies. Black leather, gold lettering, a.e.g., marbled endpapers, portrait frontis. A near fine copy. Not in Bradbury.
Contributions by Mike Mansfield, Earl Warren, and John McCormack.
Figbash Acrobate
Dallas, TX: Aredian Press, 2022. Approximately 2 x 2 1/2 x 3 1/4". LIMITED EDITION of 5 copies, this being #3. Jacob's Ladder design binding by Patrice Miller of Aredian Press. Decorated heavy boards, Edward Gorey House print, tissue, poly strapping, and ribbon, numbered and signed on the colophon, in fine condition. The black bookcloth covered enclosure is candy-box styled with a lift-off lide and a hot pink laval lining, in fine condition.
Another beautifully designed and original book by Patrice Miller, constructed from an Edward Gorey House print binding design, text and illustrations and commissioned by The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust. Patrice Miller's work has found its way to private and university collections, in the states and abroad. Human foibles, nature’s panoply, and artistic cleverness cannot help but inform future work. She continues to bind, and rebind, in Dallas, Texas.
Heraldry
Chicago, IL: Doris. V. Welsh, 1956. 33 pp. Approximately 1 1/2 x 1 7/8". LIMITED EDITION of 150 copies. Gold printed paper boards, 3/4 bound with black cloth, printed title label on spine, hand-colored illustrations, minor edge rubbing, in near fine condition. (Bradbury, Petit Oiseau Press, 7).
Doris Welsh was probably the greatest authority about miniature books in the second half of the 20th century. She collected, wrote about, and published miniature books entirely by herself. Born in 1907 in Pittsburgh, and after receiving her A.B, B.L.S. and M.S. degrees from different colleges, she eventually joined the Newberry Library in 1947 as cataloguer. She remained at the Library until 1970 when she retired. She started publishing her own books in 1952. (MBS newsletter, 11/2013). This book was hand set, printed & bound by Doris Welsh. This interesting little book provides an overview of the history of heraldry and touch on succession, women, and English vs. American heraldry.
Hinky Haiku
Dallas, TX: Aredian Press, 2016. Approximately 3 x 2", oblong. First edition, LIMITED EDITION of 20 copies, this being #4. Design binding by Patrice Miller of Aredian Press, Gold and black checkerboard paper over boards, traditional stab binding, beautiful black and gold endpapers, Japanese mulberry paper, signed and numbered by the author on the colophon, fine condition.
Overwrought by grade-schoolers and wanna-be poets, the haiku has been abused unintentionally for far too long. First attempted to distract themselves during an excruciating flight, the authors acknowledge that the haiku in its purest expression is both lyrical and majestic. These are neither, but offer commentary on modern life.
I Love You
Munich: Waldmann and Pfitzner, 1952. Approximately 5 x 5 mm. Red leather binding with gilt decorations on covers, housed in a Plexiglass case with an inset magnifying glass, printed in 4-point type in nine languages: English, German, French, Italian, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Portuguese and Spanish, in fine condition. (Bromer & Edison, P. 117)
This book was part of a 4 volume collection called "Die kleinsten Bücher der Welt" which translates to The Smallest Books in the World. These were commissioned by Walter Schatzki, a Jewish bookseller who settled in New York City in 1937 after fleeing Nazi Germany. He is sometimes attributed as the publisher. Schatzki became an authority on rare children's books and assembled one of the most famous catalogs of children's books ever created by an American bookseller.
Italia
Seattle, WA: Sam Garriott Antonacci, 2019. One-of-a-Kind Artist Book. Single sheet fold-out pasted down to rear endpaper which shows mosaic illustration of Italy in prismacolor and ink on Thai Unryu paper, 2 1/4 x 2", blue cloth over boards with illustrated front panel; housed in matching clamshell box with layered illustrated cover, completed with two more boxes with printed book details and label, all in fine condition.
According to Sam Garriott Antonacci: "I see many of my books as histories or small personal documents of people, places, or objects." This miniature book is a beautiful homage to Italy, done in the soft Tuscan colors you would expect representing the Italian countryside, with excellent detail paid to the craftsmanship of the enclosing boards and boxes. Sam primarily does one-of-a-kind and limited edition books, mainly miniatures. She was raised in the Ohio River Valley on a rural farm so solitude and nature inform her work. She went to the University of Indiana at Bloomington and art school in Seattle, where she settled when she wasn't traveling - a favorite pastime of hers that also greatly influences her work.