Livre d'Heures Maria Stuart

Livre d'Heures Maria Stuart; facsimilé edition of the manuscript - Tours: 1510/1515 - owned by the Dukes of Würtemberg. 48x32 mm., 308 p.; 14 miniature illuminations, gold initials, border decorations.

Limited edition of 980 copies. Darmstadt: Facsimilia Art & Edition Ebert KG, 1988. Bound in richly decorated full leather by Atelier Stemmle AG, Zürich; housed in a blue linen box with a magnifying glass and a commentary by Prof. Dr. Hans-Martin Decker-Hauff, Prof. Dr. Eberhard König, Myra D. Orth Ph. D. and Prof. Dr. Johannes Rathofer.



One of my finest aquisitions of the past year is this beautiful facsimilé of the Book of Hours of Maria Stuart. This is the smallest book of hours known and because of its history, the quality of the script and the fine illuminations regarded as the most precious manuscript in private ownership. The book is written in 21 lines per page by an unnamed scriptor, sometimes connected to Geofroy Tory. The miniatures point to an illuminator of the "School of Rouen" at that time situated near the Royal Court in Tours.


Maria Stuart (1542-1587), daughter of the Scottish King Jacob V, as a six year old girl engaged with the French Dauphine, came back to Scotland in 1560 as an eighteen years old queen widow. She was beheaded in 1587 being a roman catholic heir of the throne of England, after a show trial initiated by her protestant sister Elisabeth. Maria Stuart brought the Book of Hours from France to Scotland and via James VI/I and Charles I it came in possesion of the Dukes of Orléans. Mary of France, married to Alexander Duke of Würtemberg, brought the book to Würtemberg,

Exhibition

V majhnem plašču besed; Miniaturne knjižice od sumerske glinene ploščice do biblije na čipu / by Martin Žnideršič. - Ljubljana: Mestni Muzej, 2010.


"In a Small Coat of Words; Miniature Books from Sumerian Clay tablets to the Bible on a Chip".
This time not a miniature book but the catalogue of an exhibition of miniature books held in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Ljubljana has been appointed World Capital City of Books by UNESCO from April 2010 to April 2011, and as part of the celebrations the city presented this exhibition of miniature books from the private collection of Dr. Martin Žnideršič. There were almost 1300 miniature books displayed at the City Museum (Mestni Musej), about half of the collection of mr Žnideršič. The books originate from 55 countries and were arranged by country, publisher and year of publication. From a Sumerian clay tablet (28x26 mm.) from 2040 BC to a Bible on a chip (Tokyo, 1979, 2x2 mm.)



Martin Žnideršič, PhD, published many works on books and publishing.
In 40 years he build a collection of over 3000 miniature books, one of the largest in Europe. After the exhibition his whole collection will be donated to the City Library of Ljubljana.

About Miniature Books

Miniatür Könyvekröl Gyujtöknek / by Gyula Janka. - Budapest: Müszaki Nyomdad,1973. - 251 p.: ill..; 31x22 mm.


Brown laatherette binding; title in gold on front and spine. 4000 copies printed on 90 gs paper . Typography and design by Gyula Janka. An essay by Gyula Janka on miniature books for collectors. Hungarian, Russian, German and English text.

Gyula Janka, former director of the Budapest University Press, is to be seen as the nestor of miniature-book collectors. He issued a number of miniatures himself and as a designer and typographer he was responsable for many others. His Miniatur Könyvek Bibliográfiája (Bibliography of Miniature Books) 1945-1976 is a very important reference for Hungarian miniature books. He also was the founder of the magazine Microbibliofok (1971-1988). After his death his impressive collection was sold. Some of the books show up in this blog.

Letters

The First [Second, Third] Letter / by Miyako Akai. - Koyo: Hiroshi Miki, 2008.




Calligraphy in real size by Minoru Sasaki, designed and bound by Miyako Akai.


'The First Letter' is an envelope with leather cord and metal leave containing a miniature book, 24x15 mm.



'The Second Letter' is a holding book with a metal key, with a miniature leporello inside, 24x15 mm.


'The Third Letter' is a rolled book with a metal chain and ring. 24x 302 mm.



Original short stories in Japanese about a time machine and Autumn.
Miyako Akai, Japanese miniaturist. Educated as an architect. Writer of novels and short stories. From 2001 on she makes books. Her bindings are very original and the use of materials reflects the long tradition of paper arts in Japan. In 2006 she was distinguished award winner of the Miniature Book Society competition with Kotosubu, a miniature book in a bamboo cage.

Doris Varner Welsh

A Lady and Her Books; the biography of Doris Varner Welsh / by Kathryn I. Rickard. - Montreal QC: Editions du Parnasse, 1988. - 84 p.; 73x 55 mm., ill. - ISBN 2892770300.



Bound in marbled paper boards with cloth corners and spine by Gaumerd-Poirier. Marbled paper by Michele Simard. Published in a limited edition of 150 copies by Roger Huet.






About Doris Varner Welsh and her Le Petit Oiseau Press. Doris V. Welsh, born 1907, has worked as a cataloguer at the Newberry Library in Chicago. She was book lover, printer and collector of miniature books. For all of her fifteen books she used a 4 point Century Expanded. She also published scientific works, e.g. Checklist of Philippine Linguistics and Checklist of French Political Pamphlets (1560-1644)

Magyar népballadák

Magyar népballadák. - Budapest: Patria Nyomda, 1991. - 516 p.: ill.; 58x44 mm. - ISBN 9630289687

Green suede binding with guilt title on front and spine. Numbered copy 313/750.








Hungarian folk ballads with a foreword by Tibor Komlovszki. Black and white drawings and coloured illustrations by graphic artist László Kékesi (1960- ).

Divatképek / Fashion pictures

Divatképek a régmúltból / compiled by Gyula Kardos. - Budapest: Egyetemi Nyomda, 1987. - 74 p.: ills; 55x48 mm.

"Fashion pictures from bygone time". Text printed in Hungarian, Russian, and English . Bound in purple leather with a fashion figure in gold stamped on front cover on a blue background in a gold design . Guilt flowers on spine. Typographical design by Gyula Janka. 450 copies printed of which 250 are numbered; this is #112.

The reproductions were taken from a picture issued on the occasion of the discontinuance of the periodical "Der Spiegel für Kunst Eleganz und Mode" about 1852. On this sheet with the title The History of Fashion are 16 engravings showing the changing fashion between 1828 and 1843. These engravings were made by József Sürch. The endpapers, a pen-drawing of V. Grimm, show a view of the Danube and Budapest with the Chain Bridge that was opened in 1849.

Wij leven vrij

Wij leven vrij, wij leven blij. - s.l.: s.n., [1944]. - [8 p.]; 57x73 mm.

Orange paper wrapper with overprint in black and blue. Stapled. Tekst printed in green.

Illegally printed by Dutch resistance against German occupiers.
No further details known.





"We live in freedom, we live joyful": Dutch folk-songs including the National Anthem

Luis Cabrera

Grandeza de Louis Cabrera / por Enrique Ramirez y Ramirez. - Mexico: G.M. Echaniz, 1964. - 1, 47, 11 p.; portret ; 48x37 mm. [Libreria Antiquaria "Mexico en Libros"].

Guilt green morocco. 300 copies printed for Dawson's Bookshop LA. Printed on Ameco Bond paper (36 Kls) in 6 pts Modern. Set up by hand by José Marin and bound by Juan Silva.
This article was first published in volume 2 of the periodical Bandera Popular, 1954.



Luis Vincente Cabrera Lobato (1876-1954). Writer and politician in Mexico. He started his career as a teacher and afterwards worked as a lawyer in several offices. Later on he was appointed director of the Escuela National de Jurisprudencia (Nowadays National Autonomous University of Mexico). In 1912 he became deputy to the Congress. In 1931 he was deported to Guatemale because of his political ideas, but he returned after a short time, and even was offered a candidacy for presidency. As a writer he used two pen names: Lic. Blas Urrea for his political publications, and Lucas Rivera for his more literary works.

Impossible anaglyphs

Onmogelijke anaglyphen; over dingen die je wel kunt zien maar die niet bestaan / door Bruno Ernst en Coos den Tonkelaar (ill.). - Groningen: Philip Elchers, 1993. - 82 p.: ill. ; 72x48 mm.

Red cloth hardback with silver ornament. Green paper dustjacket. Stereoscopic spectacles in back. 300 copies on 70 grms India paper.


Impossible anaglyphs; about things one can see but that doesn't exist. Anaglyph images are made up of two color layers, superimposed, to produce a stereoscopic 3D effect, when viewed with 2 color glasses (each lens a chromatically opposite color, usually red and cyan). In the brain the visual cortex joins the image it receives from each eye into a perception of a three dimensional composition.

Bruno Ernst pseudonym of Hans de Rijk (1926- ). After spending many years in a monastery he became a teacher of mathematics and physics. He was involved in publishing educational magazines for children and wrote many books on various scientific topics. In 2008 he received the NWO Eureka Reward. He is an absolute specialist in this field and had contacts with graphical artist M.C. Escher and Oscar Reutervärd., inventor of the so-called Penrose Triangle. Designer Coos den Tonkelaar made seventeen new illustrations for this miniature book

Betbüechlein

Betbüechlein. - S.l.: M.DC.VII. - [126 pp.]; 31x19 mm.

A facsimile of Viennese printer Ludwig Bonnoberger's famous prayer book of 1607, presented to a gathering of bibliophiles at the Kaiserlich-Königlichen Hofbibliothek (Imperial Court Library), September 29, 1912.

Bound like the original copy in buff cloth with interwoven silver threads.
Edges gilt and gauffered with two indented circles. Printed in Vienna by Adolf Holzhausen and the Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt. Housed in a scooped out compartment of a larger volume in olive-green cloth with the title gilt on the spine, containing details of this tiny prayerbook.

Not many details are known about the printer Ludwig Bonnoberger (? - 1614). Merely twenty editions bear his imprint - Typis Ludovici Bonnoberger, in Bursa Agni - ranging from 1603, when he took over the office ánd the widow of a Viennese printer (or reversed?), to 1616. The editions of 1615 and 1616 were issued under his name by his widow. The only copy known of the original miniature book is to be found in the the 'Prunksaal ' (splendor hall) of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Austrian National Library).

Biography in Books

Irma Boom: Biography in Books; Books in reverse chronological order 2010 -1986 with comments here and there. - Amsterdam: Special Collections UVA, 2010. - 50x28 mm., 704 p.; 450 images. - ISBN 978-94-90895-01-3

Red paper cover with foil stamping; dust jacket. Red silkscreen printed edges. Design Irma Boom and Sonja Haller. Printed by Lenoirschuring Amstelveen on Opaque pigmented 60 gr. Bound in Skivertex Vicuana/Wibalin Natural by Boekbinderij Patist, Den Dolder. In cardboard box, designed and cut by Marbus, Lisse. Biography in Books was published for an exhibition held at the Special Collections Department of the University of Amsterdam.

Biography of the Dutch graphic designer specialising in book making Irma Boom; together with an survey of her bookdesigns until now. Irma Boom (1960- ) is internationally known because of her wayward book designs. One of the most spectacular is the famous book she made for SHV Holdings. In 11 kilograms and 2136 pages it represents the history of that company.
A selection of her books is displayed in MoMa New York and Centre Pompidou in Paris. Since 1992 Boom has been a critic at Yale University in the US and gives lectures and workshops worldwide. She has got many awards for her book designs a.o. in 2001 the prestigious Gutenberg prize for her complete oeuvre.
For examples see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk7jVI68Fjw

Historic American Flags

Historic American Flags. - Worcester: Achille J. St. Onge, 1968. - 49 p.: postage stamps; 72x55 mm.

Bleu niger morocco gilt binding by Proost and Brandt, edges gilt. Printed by Joh. Enschedé in Haarlem (The Netherlands) on Ingres Bütten paper with types Romulus and Cancelleresca Bastarda designed by Jan van Krimpen. 2000 copies.


Jan van Krimpen (1842-1958); dutch typographer and designer. Most of his types were meant for manual printing. His Romulus family of types (1931) including Cancelleresca (1935) is still used and well known in the US through the Limited Editions Club.


On July 4, 1968 the Unites States Post Office Department issued a series of ten stamps with historic flags. These stamps show flags used by colonists in the Revolutionary War. St Onge made use of this series as illustration for this miniature book. For Historic American Flags see: http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/flags/revflags.shtml

Woorden uit den Bijbel

Woorden uit den Bijbel, voor elken dag van het jaar 1861; Een en twintigste Jaargang; Met bijschrift, door M.A. Amshoff. - Groningen: R.J. Schierbeek, 1860. - 205 p.; 71x54 mm.

Blue stamped cloth with gilt title on front and spine. Edges gilt. Endpapers of tissue paper. In red board slipcase.



Words from the Bible for every day of the year 1861. This series was issued almost every year from 1841 until 1874 by Printing House Schierbeek in Groningen in an edition of some thousand copies. Afterwards continued by Callenbach.

M.A. Amshoff (1801-1874) was a minister in Groningen. He was the editor of "Woorden" from 1851 until his death in 1874.

Juan Salvador Gaviota

Juan Salvador Gaviota, un relato / por Richard Bach. - Lima: Editoria Guzman, s.a. - 55x40 mm, 268 p., ill. - ISBN 9972629376

Gilt red plastic cover. Red ribbon.

Juan Salvador Gaviota un relato, the novel of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull; a story" written by Richard Bach in 1970. Translated in Spanish. This fable about a seagull learning about life and flight was a bestseller from the first day of publication; in hardly two years over a million of copies were in print. And until now new editions are issued in many languages.
Juan Salvador Gaviota, an outcast seagull is always searching for the meaning of life. He wanted to be free, to fly and make an art of it. Desiring to measure the limits of his abilities he finally comes to understand the secret of his true nature: How perfection knows no boundaries.

Richard Bach is an ex-pilote of the US Airforce and writer of several novels, a.o. Strangers to the Ground, and many articles for general and aviation magazines.

Tafellandschap

Tafellandschap; monologen; met fotowerk van F.M. Hutchison / door A. Schaalma. - Groningen: Philip Elchers, 1991. - 71x44 mm.; 47 p.; folding ills. [Microreeks 4]

Printed paper binding; dust jacket with title and picture. Set in ITC Galliard and printed on pale Mellotex. Printed by Schut & Casparie. Binding Wim Gremmen. 250 copies.

23 poems comprising the cyclus Tafellandschap, in three parts with each a full colour photograph of a set table.



Albert Schaalma (1943- ) began his career as a musician after his studies at The Conservatorium in Groningen (Nowadays Prins Claus Conservatorium). He made his début as writer only in 1985.
His work was published in magazines like De Revisor and Dietsche Warande & Belfort. In 1992 he was honoured with the Masereel award for poetry.

Frank M. Hutchison (1957- ) artist and teacher at the Academy of Arts Minerva in Groningen

The Sermon to the Fishes

Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt; illustrations by Giel Louws. - [Middelburg: Giel Louws, 2003]. - 48x32 mm., 31 p.

Blue marbled paper over boards; endpapers marbled. In blue slipcase. Set in 6 point Book Antiqua. Ten unique miniature water-colours by Giel Louws. Unique copy signed by the artist.



Die Fischpredigt (The sermon to the fishes) is part of Des Knaben Wunderhorn by Clemens Brentano and Achim von Arnim. It tells the story of Saint Anthony who saw no one in the church when he began his sermon. He then went to the river and preached for all the animals in the water. All the fishes poked their heads out of the water to listen to him and they all were very impressed by his words. Saint Anthony (1195-1231) entered the Augustinian Abbey in Lisbon but after his studies he joined the Franciscan Order. His fame spread very quickly and he became known as the most celebrated of the followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. When he died, it is said that the children cried in the streets and that all the bells of the churches rang of their own accord, rung by angels.


Clemens Brentano (1778-1842) and his friend (Ludwig) Achim von Arnim (1781-1831) worked together on an very important collection of German folk poems 'Des Knaben Wunderhorn' (The Youth's Magic Horn).

Giel Louws (born 1975) is a dutch artist. He studied at the Art Academies in Bruges (Belgium) and Kampen (The Netherlands). Afterwards he has developed a very personal vivid style as a painter. Religion is an important theme in his paintings. Most of his works deal with spirituality in life and arts.

Nutcracker and the Mouse King

Diótörö és Egérkirály / át E.T.A. Hoffmann. - Budapest: Europa Könyvkiadó, [1977]. - 318 p.; 54x35 mm. - ISBN 9630712334



Brown cloth binding. Dark brown print and label with title on the spine. Original edition 1958 Aufbau-Verlag Berlin. Translated in Hungarian by György Sárközy; illustrated by István Engel Tevan. 5000 copies.

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (Nussknacker und Mausekönig); a story written in 1816 by E. T. A. Hoffmann in which young Marie Stahlbaum's favorite Christmas toy, the Nutcracker, comes alive and, after defeating the evil Mouse King in a battle, whisks her away to a magical kingdom, populated by dolls. Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann (1776-1822), better known by his pen name E.T.A. Hoffmann (he changed his third forename in Amadeus in homage to the great composer Mozart), was a German writer, composer, caricaturist and jurist. After his study at the university of Köningsberg he had a very unsettled career, moving from town to town. In 1794 he gave music lessons to a married woman named Dora Hatt. She was ten years older but he became very enamored of her. She gave birth to her sixth child in 1795. By an arrangement between the two families he got a position elsewhere. In 1816 Hoffmann attained a high position in the Supreme Court in Berlin but still he could not make a choice between his role as a bureaucrat and as an artist. He died in 1822 as a result of nervous exhaustion and excessive drinking. He is the (fictional) subject and hero of the famous opera 'The Tales of Hoffmann' by Jac. Offenbach. His most familiar story is the novelette in this miniature book which inspired Tchaikovsky's ballet 'The Nutcracker' (1892).

Les Lais

Les Lais / par François Villon. - Budapest: Kossuth, 1983. - 40 p.: ill.; 74x55 mm.

Red velours binding with portret in gold frame. Hand set in Monotype Garamond and printed on Zanders Ikonorex Special Mat. Eight reproductions by László Gyarmathy of portrets in oil-panting by Endre Szász. Edition of 200 copies for customers of the Kossuth Printing House.


Text in french of Les Lais (The Legacy) of the famous poet, vagabond and thief François Villon. (Paris ca 1431 - after 1463 ) Villon got a master of arts degree in 1452 and became a clerk. In 1455 he was sentenced to banishment, after a scuffle with a priest - both courting the same girl - and fled. His sentence was remitted by King Charles, but in the next year he was again in trouble because of a girl named Catherine de Vaucelles. He had to flee a second time, to his uncle in Angers this time. Not quite a year later he was caught again because the chapel of the Navarre College was broken open and five hundred gold crowns were stolen. Through Louis XI he came out of prison and went back to Paris. In less than a year he was banished again. So his life went on, alternating between living as a bohemian and being imprisoned. In 1563 he was arrested and condemned to be hanged, but the sentence was commuted to banishment on 5 January 1463. After that date there is no further record of Villon. He is perhaps best known for his Testaments and his Ballades written while in prison. He wrote 'Le Lais' when he was on the run to Angers. The most famous and cited line he wrote is perhaps the question "Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?" (Where are the snows of yesteryear?) from the 'Ballade des dames du temps jadis'.



Statue of François Villon in Utrecht