Miniature Book Society Newsletter, Number 33, January 1997 Page: 1
16 p. : ill. ; 26 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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CHARLOTTE SMITH
COLLECTION
EADERS MIGHT RECALL Charlotte
Smith's essay on "TheJoys of Miniature
Books" which was published
in issue #41 of Books at Iowa November,
1984. It's a charming ten page
memoir which should be a part of every
collector's library.On May 20,1996, the University of
Iowa issued a press release stating that
Charlotte had given her magnificent
collection of miniature books to the
University of Iowa Libraries. There were
several newspaper reports of the gift,
including the following which is taken
from the Des Moines Register.Tiny books have big stories to tell
Book lover's gift to Uof I library 'is more than a curiosity'By MARK SIEBERT
RE(;ISTF.RST.\FF W'RITA Newton woman has
given the University of
Iowa perhaps the biggest
little gift in school history:
3,000 miniature
books, some 350 years
old and no bigger than
your thumbnail.
These tiny books are much more than nicknacks
to decorate a fancy doll house, said Robert
McCown, head of special collections at the
U of I's Main Library.
The minuscule manuscripts are worth an
estimated $250,000. And, McCown said, they
will help U of I students better understand the
history of printing and bookmaking.
Charlotte Smith, a 77-year-old
microbibliophile, began buying these genuine
bantam books in the 1970s. The reason: Her
collection of normal-size old and rare books
had begun overrunning her house in Newton.
She and her husband, Tom, eventually
started their own press, publishing miniature
works of such big-name authors as Maya Angelou,
Robert Penn Warren and E.B. White.
They each also wrote and published a work of
their own.
In December, she donated all but a few
books tothe U of I.
"I figured it would be easier for me to disOn of the smallest books in the collection
is held by a tweezers. It also is shown
life size at the beginning of this story.
pose of them than for my children to dispose
of them," Smith said Wednesday.
Library officials were grateful for the gift
- even more so since they don't expect problems
locating the necessary shelf space.
The collection "is more than just curiosities,"
McCown said. "It covers the entire era
of miniature publishing."
The books had practical uses in the early
years of printing. During the Renaissance, nobleman
and priests found it easier to travelwith an assortment of miniature books instead
of lugging regular-size editions.
Smith isn't a U of I graduate, but library
staffers had helped in her book-collecting pursuits.
And she knows the books will have a
good home.
"They're treasures," she said. "They're an
art form."
By definition, miniature books are less than
3 inches tall. The bindings, typefaces, subjects
and country of publication vary greatly. The
covers are made of leather, sterling silver, embroidery
and vellum.
There are "thumb Bibles," children's books,
almanacs and classics, some decorated with
woodcuts and other intricate illustrations.
And there are examples of "the smallest
book in the world," a competition where the
entrants continue to shrink. The Smith collection
includes a book no taller than a stack of
five nickels.
You could hold the equivalent of the entire
Encyclopedia Brittanica in one hand with
these miniature books. But other than the
very smallest - which sometimes come with
their own magnifying glass - most of these
tiny treasures can be read with the naked eye,
McCown said.
"This is one that was published in London
in 1780. It's a book that measures," he said,
pausing to reach for a ruler, "slightly under
1i inches high and not quite 1%. It's possible
to read the book fairly easily, and I have bifocals."MB MINIATURE BOOK
SOCIETY NEWSLETER
A Quarterly Publication of the Miniature Book Society, Inc.
New Series, Number 33 ISSN 0984-5489 January 1997
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Miniature Book Society. Miniature Book Society Newsletter, Number 33, January 1997, periodical, January 1997; Ohio. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc9328/m1/1/: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.