The Lady or The Tiger

The Lady or The Tiger / by Frank R. Stockton. – West Paterson New Jersey, Lotus Bud Press, 2011. - 30x35 mm., oblong, np; ill.


Paper over board, title and illustration on front. Coloured illustrations. Set in Papyrus, 3.5 point. Numbered and signed copy 1/6

First published in The Century, 1882. 
 

From The Captain's Toll-Gate, 1903

Francis  Richard Stockton (1834-1903) American writer and humorist. He has the reputation as one of the greatest humorists and children’s authors of his time.
Stockton’s first major success arrived with the 1879 publication of Rudder Grange, a collection of stories based on a married couple and their servant. His most famous work, however, was the fable, “The Lady, or the Tiger?” which was published in 1882 by Century magazine. A man was sentenced to an unusual punishment for having a romance with a king's beloved daughter. Taken to the public arena, he is faced with two doors, behind one of which is a hungry tiger that will devour him. Behind the other is a beautiful lady, whom he will have to marry, if he finds her. While the crowd waits anxiously for his decision, he sees the princess among the spectators, who points him to the door on the right. The lover starts to open the door and ... the story ends abruptly there. Did the princess save her love by pointing to the door leading to the lady-in-waiting, or did she prefer to see her lover die rather than see him marry someone else? That discussion hook has made the story a staple in English classes in American schools, especially since Stockton was careful never to hint at what he thought the ending would be.
(After H. Collins Haydn in The Thesaurus of Book Digests).

Children's Library

Carved wooden cabinet with four legs and hinged glazed wooden door. Containing  nine (of ten) volumes children’s library, 45x35 mm; [c. 1880]
Brown paper wrappers with title on front and spine.
Written by Ada (pseudonym of H.G.G. van Steensel van der Aa.). The Four seasons originally written by Klara Reichner and translated by Ada.

Titles are:
- Practische huishoudelijke raadgever. - 61 p.  (Practical housekeeping counselor)
- De vier jaargetijden; voordracht voor 5 meisjes van Klara Reichner, vertaald door Ada. - 62   p. (The Four seasons; sketch for five girls)
- Albumversjes en gedachten voor poëzie-album. – 62 p. (Poetry and thoughts for the poetry album)
- De goede toon. – 46 p. (About etiquette)
- Kookboek. – 64 p. (Cookery book)
- Onze bloementuin. – 60 p. (Our flowergarden)
- Onze kamertuin. – 76 p. (Our house flowers)
- Kasboekje. – n.p. (Cash-book)
- Uitgeleende boeken. – n.p. (Lending books)

Missing:  De kleine zwijnenhouder. (The small  swine shepherd).

Dew Drops

Dew drops. - New York: American Tract Society, [c. 1847]. - 128 p.; 56x34 mm.

Brown cloth, gilt stamped; edges gilt. Decorated spine with title.
Undated, but according to binding and gilt decoration from ca 1847.

Set of bible extracts issued by the American Tract Society, a nonprofit evangelical organization founded in 1825 in New York City for the purpose of publishing and disseminating Christian literature. Over the years American Tract Society has produced many theological books and tracts.
The first “Dew Drops” was issued about 1831 as a copy ftom the one printed by The Religious Tract Society in London. The last one, as far as I know, dates from 1899.

Pushkin

 















Don Жуанский спиок Пушкина / Pushkin's Don Juan's list. - Moskva, Janiko, 1996. - 24x19 mm., 127 p., ills. - ISBN 5883690718

Dark-red leather binding with guilt ornament on front and spine. Painted edges. Edition of 100 copies.

Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799-1837), Romantic author, considered as the greatest Russian poet. Born as son of the Russian nobility and the fact that he published his first poem at the age of fifteen gave him an easy entrance to the literary establishment of St. Petersburg.
Later on because of his commitment to social reform and his critical writings he came under the strict control of government and censors. In 1820, banned from the capital, he started to write what became his most famous play, the drama Boris Godunov. The uncensored version of this drama got a premiere only in 2007.
Famous composers like Mussorgsky (Boris Godunov) and Tchaikovsky (Eugene Onegin) were inspired by his work
In 1837 he challenged his brother in-law Georges d'Anthès to a duel because of rumors that his wife has started a scandalous affair. Pushkin died two days later.

The Russian Publishing House YanikO (ЯникО) has issued a lot of miniature books, Most of them with fine bindings.

Bijou Almanac

Schloss's English Bijou Almanac for 1841; poetically illustrated by the Hon. Mrs Norton . - London: Schloss, 1840. - 20x14 mm., ill.

Fine gilt tooled glazed boards with a lozenge-shaped onlay of gilt-titled red morocco. In similar slipcase. Housed in the original hinged case of morocco over wood with metal clasp and title in gold on the lid. The interior of the case is lined in with white velvet and the lid in white satin. With a tiny magnifying glass with a tortoise-shell handle.

Text lithographed throughout by H.R. Davies in a nearly 3-point Excelsior. Illustrated with pictures including portraits of Mrs. Caroline Norton, Sheridan Knowles, Princess Marie von Hessen , and Napoleon plus a view of Caernarvon Castle and a picture of a fairy.


Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton (1808 –1877) was a famous British society beauty, novelist and poet. Her first novels, The Wife and Woman's Reward, were issued anonymously.
A conflict with her husband, the odious George Norton, forced her into political activism and writing pamphlets.


These series of The English Bijou Almanac appeared in London between 1836 and 1843. From 1839 called Schloss's English Bijou Almanac after the Publisher Albert Schloss. Schloss was Fancy Stationer tot Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Kent.

Spielmann (p. 160) notes that these tiny almanacs were "a fashionable and by no means cheap present for the Ladies of the Court and similar high-placed personalities."

Louis Bondy (p. 42) states: “They are true miracles of engraving, illustration, binding and presentation”.

Julian Tuwim

My, Żydzi Polscy; Kwiaty Polskie (fragm.) / door Julian Tuwim. - Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Artystyczne i Filmowe, 1993. - 63 p.: ills.; 66x55 mm. - ISBN 83 221 0637 8


Green leather binding with goldstamped candelabrum. Illustrations on shaded paper. Illustrated brown endpapers. 3000 copies.

Bibliophile miniature edition of fragments of 'My zydzi Polscy' [=We, Polish Jews] and Kwiaty Polskie [= Polish Flowers] issued by Magnum Press, Hebrew University Jerusalem, 1984.


Julian Tuwim (1894 - 1953), was a Polish poet, born in Łódź. He studied law and philosophy at Warsaw University. Tuwim was co-founder of the Skamander group of experimental poets and is known as a major figure in Polish literature
At Nazi Germany's occupation of Poland in 1939, Tuwim emigrated to France and later on to the USA.
There he wrote "Kwiaty Polskie", an epic poem in which he remembers with nostalgia his early childhood in Łódź. In April 1944 he published the manifesto "My, Żydzi Polscy"
After the war in 1946 Tuwim returned to Poland where he died in 1953.

Recitativ

Recitativ / az Babits Mihály. - Nyugat: Szépirodalmi szemle, [1972]. - 131 p.; 56x40 mm. - ISBN 9631510107

Dark green, leather-textured material, with gilt titling, border, blindstamped price on back cover; color-printed, design dustjacket. Miniature reproduction of the edition of 1916.









Mihály Babits, (1883 - 1941) was a Hungarian poet and journalist. After his study - Hungarian, Latin and French with a particular interest in the philosophy of Schopenhauer and Nietsche - at the Budapest University he worked as a teacher in Szeged and Budapest and was editor of the Nyugat Magazine.In 1934 he wrote a standard book on West European Literature (Az Európai irodalom történette). He was also one of the most important literary translators of Hungary; a.o. Sophokles, Goethe, Shakespeare and Baudelaire. His most outstanding work is the complete translation of Dantes Divina Comedia in 1940.

Tongues of flame

Tongues of Flame; poems / by Kalman L. Levitan. - Palm Beach Gardens (Florida): Kaycee Press, 1989. - 53x65 mm., oblong. – no pag. - ISBN 0911694196

Blue leather binding with title in gold on front and spine. Blue marbled endpapers. Set by Gazebo Press in Souvenir type. Printed by Ward Schori Press on Natural Mohawk Vellum. Bound by Hugo Grummich.200 copies.

There is a loose erratum on blue paper with an apologia:
It’s the nightmare of a printer,
To find lurking on a page,
A ghastly, glaring typo,
When it’s much too late to change!


Rabbi Kalman L. Levitan (1917-2002), writer and teacher and for many years Jewish Chaplain for the Air Force.
He was the founder and first chairman of the Miniature Book Society. He was a devoted collector of miniature books. His large private collection, started with a miniature Hebrew prayerbook given to him by his father, was dispersed in 1997 and after his death the remaning volumes donated to two University Libraries. I have in my collection several volumes with the bookplate of Levitan. Kaycee Press was his imprint for at least three miniature books.

Ward Schori journalist and professional printer in Evanston Illinois. Established the Schori Press as a commercial printing house till 1980. After his retirement he owned a “basement print shop” where he printed and published most of his miniature books untill his dead in 1994.

Hugo Grummich, born in 1926 in Bosnia. He apprenticed with his uncle’s book binding company, where he became a master bookbinder, emigrated tot the US and started the Cincinnati Bindery in 1964. He won numerous awards for the quality of his work, including pieces for the Kennedy family, the Smithsonian and the Vatican.

Newly-Weds

Advice to Newly-Weds; a text first published in 1875. - York: The Circle Press, [1997] - [24 p.]; 65x44 mm.

Black leather; title goldstamped. Edges gilt. Printed in black and red.

No details found on the Circle Press or the original publication

Fabuliste

Le petit Fabuliste; Année 1821. – Paris: Marcilly, 1821. – 25x16 mm., 64 p., ill., calendar

Red morocco gilt binding. Engraved throughout with 8 full page illustrations.


Issued by the Parisian engraver and publisher Marcilly. There is no artist name on the engravings but they could come from Marcilly’s studio. The firm of Marcilly were responsable for a lot of the most beautiful childrens books between 1820 and 1830. Most of them were printed by Firmin Didot. This printer and type cutter was well-known by his very small type. The family Didot has lent its name to a typographic measurements system developed by François-Ambroise Didot.

Mosaïque des Dames

Mosaïque des dames. - Paris: Marcilly, [1837]. - 84x55 mm; 124 p. : ills. , calendar.

Green paper covered blind stamped boards; with slipcase; title gilt.
Printed by Firmin Didot and Brothers in Paris, members of a famous family of printers, punch-cutters and publishers. Firmin Didot invented the stereotypography which entirely changed the book trade. Henri Didot the Elder was the creator of a very small type (2½ point) for which he had to invent a special apparatus (the polyamatype) because this microscopic type could not be cast in the ordinary way. The family has lent its name to a typographic measurements system developed by François-Ambroise Didot.
The Paris firm of Marcilly, noted for their miniature books, were responsable for many beautiful children's books.

Zedelijke bedenkingen

Zedelijke bedenkingen en spreuken. - Middelburg: H.A. Abrahams, 1806. - X, 47 p.; 58x46 mm.

Marbled paper over boards. 64º in the way of a folio.

"Moral reflections and proverbs". This miniature book is made (typeset, printed and bound) by Hendrik Adriaan Abrahams as a proof of his ability to be member of the Middelburg guild of printers and booksellers. At that time he was an employee in the bookshop of his aunt. A widow who also had a printing house where Hendrik printed this miniature. Later on he became owner of the bookshop and editor of a local newspaper. Making a miniature book as a specimen was - as far as I know - only the practice in Middelburg (Netherlands). In the preface he stated that the format was obligatory given by the commissioners of the guild but that he was free to make another one in a larger size. What he did; because there are some copies known of a book made by him (Geloofwaardige bewijzen dat de boekdrukkunst te Haarlem is uitgevonden. Middelburg; 1806) wherein this fact is mentioned

Károly Róbert

Károly Róbert / Gyula Kristó és Ferenc Makk. - Budapest: Pátria Nyomda, 1983. - 45x35 mm., 377 p., ill.

Green leather binding ; gilt on spine and back. Coloured enamel plaque on front. Coloured endpapers with coat of arms. Numbered copy 257/500.

Károly Róbert (Charles Robert) (1288–1342) from the house of Anjou was also descended from the Hungarian Arpád dynasty. He
was born in Naples as son of Charles Martel. He became King of Hungary and Croatia in 1308. Political as well as economical he carried out important reforms, a.o. the introduction of new coins with a high alloy of gold.
Gyula Kristó and Ferenc Makk were at that time both historians in the Medieval and Early Modern Hungarian History department at the Attila Jószef Universiti in Szeged.

Shelley

Shelley / by A.C. Swinburne. - Worcester: Achille J. St Onge, 1973. - 68x57 mm., 23 p.

Gilt red leather; blue decorated endpapers; edges gilt. 500 copies printed by Enschedé en Zn., Haarlem (The Netherlands). Set in Romaneé and Spectrum type. Bound by Reliure du Centre, Limoges (France).

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 – 1822). English romantic poet. His works are regarded among the finest lyric poetry in the English language. Even writers from later generations did admire him; like Shaw, Russell, Oscar Wilde, Upton Sinclair. Henry Thoreau's civil obedience was inspired by him. Shelley spent much of his life in Europe where he became a close friend of Lord Byron. He died in a boating accident in Italy. Some of his poems, like Ozymandias and Ode to the West Wind, are among the most famous in English.

Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837 - 1909), English poet and novelist and critic. From 1903 till 1909 he was eight times nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. In this miniature book the poem Shelley, probably composed in 1856 or 1857 in his days at the Oxford University, appears for the first time in print. (Data from Wikipedia)

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- ).