Itsy-bitsy miniature book exhibit opens

There's an exhibition of books at the University Libraries that would keep Tom Thumb busy for years.

The "Tiny Tomes" exhibition in the library's North Lobby includes more than 400 miniature books from the Charlotte M. Smith Miniature Book Collection, donated to the libraries in 1995. Other rare and unique examples are on display in the Special Collections Department.

The 3,000 books, which must be three inches or smaller to qualify as miniature, date from 1628 to 1989 and are valued at more than $250,000.

The book collection includes "thumb Bibles" from the 18th and 19th centuries, pop-up books, classics, children's books, and several examples of the "smallest book in the world." The exhibition is sponsored by Friends of the University of Iowa Libraries.

According to the exhibition brochure, miniature books initially were produced for practical purposes. Publishers issued miniaturized versions for a wider patronage; their reduced size made them more transportable than contemporary folios. The first printed miniature book on record is an Officium Beatae Virginis Mariae printed in 1475, a mere 20 years after the introduction of moveable type. The book measures 2 15/16 inches by 1 3/4 inches.

Smith was a publisher, author, book collector, and founder of the Tamazunchale Press. An avid booklover, Smith began to collect miniature books in 1970 when her growing collection of regular-sized rare and antiquarian books overloaded her shelves.

The exhibition was planned, designed, and installed by Dick Kolbet and Judy Macy of the Special Collections Department. Pam Spitzmueller and Alan Puglia of the Conservation Department provided assistance in preparing the items for presentation.
The collection is a fine addition to the University Libraries collection interests, Kolbet says.

"Other collections that we have are complementary to what's in this collection," he says. "There are a number of Iowa authors in this collection, and we substantially collect in Iowa authors; we have a major collection of Edgar Allen Poe, and Poe is one that is reprinted in miniature form quite often. There's enough here for at least one person's lifetime of research," he says.

by University News Services