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Inside Spencer: The KSRL Blog

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Welcome to the Kenneth Spencer Research Library blog! As the special collections and archives library at the University of Kansas, Spencer is home to remarkable and diverse collections of rare and unique items. Explore the blog to learn about the work we do and the materials we collect.

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That’s Distinctive!: Miniature Bibles

Check the blog each Friday for a new “That’s Distinctive!” post. I created the series because I genuinely believe there is something in our collections for everyone, whether you’re writing a paper or just want to have a look. “That’s Distinctive!” will provide a more lighthearted glimpse into the diverse and unique materials at Spencer – including items that many people may not realize the library holds. If you have suggested topics for a future item feature or questions about the collections, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

This week on That’s Distinctive! we are sharing miniature (tiny) Bibles. We have many tiny books within Special Collections, including the Bibles shown below. The three Bibles range in size from 1 ¼” to 2 ¾” wide. Though the text is quite small, they can be read like regular sized books. However, some other tiny books within the collections are not readable by the naked eye.

So why miniature books? They’re pocket sized! According to the Oxford Companion to the Book, which is available at Spencer Research Library and (for KU users) online, “miniature books, with the exception of micro-miniatures, are normally produced to be read without the aid of magnification, and rarely exceed 3in. in height. The earliest miniature books were MSS [manuscripts] made from papyrus or parchment in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD.” Miniature books have been of high interest throughout time. From Bibles, to Greek and Latin classics, to the works of Shakespeare and Robert Burns, books of all kinds have been converted to miniature formats. There have even been instances of miniature books being produced to supply libraries within doll houses. “Over the last century, miniature books have featured as specialist areas of both fine press printing and fine bookbinding.”

See the Biblio website and Regency Antique Books for additional brief histories of miniature books.

Within Spencer Research Library, Special Collections holds over 250 miniature books. Their call numbers generally include the size designation “t” (for “tiny”) or “tk” (for oblong miniature books). To qualify for a “t” call number in Spencer’s Special Collections, books must be between zero and ten centimeters in size. Some books such as Children 3957 (below) have yet to be cataloged at a designated “t” call number.

Book sitting above a ruler showing that the volume is just over an inch wide.
The front cover of The Bible in Miniuture [sic], or, A Concise History of the Old and New Testaments, 1780. Call Number: t170. Click image to enlarge.
Book with a plain brown leather cover sitting above a ruler showing that the volume is about two inches wide.
The front cover of a miniature Bible, 1816. Call Number: Children 3957 [no online catalog record]. Click image to enlarge.
Book with a large embossed cross on the cover sitting above a ruler showing that the volume is almost three inches wide.
The front cover of Novum Testamentum domini nostri Jesu Christi, vulgatae editionis (i.e. the New Testament of the Bible), 1844. Call Number: t40. Click image to enlarge.
three miniature Bibles in a horizontal row above a ruler.
The three miniature Bibles in a horizontal row. Call Numbers, from left to right: t170, t40, and Children 3957. Click image to enlarge.

Tiffany McIntosh
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This entry was posted on Friday, June 9th, 2023 at 8:35 am and is filed under Special Collections, That's Distinctive. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.