Evening star., 1932-04-03

lions OF the FRANCISCAN order and the Fran
ciscan testament. There is also . Breve of
Pope Sixtus Nv, dated october 4, 148o. Heauti-
fully printed in red and black, the httle tome
is well illustrated with a number of delightful
woodcuts. There can be no question that 1t
Is true miniature, as it is only BY inches
over all Apparently it is so rare as to have
been entirely overlooked by photographers of
this period
The third and last item of ineunabula Of
which the collection may boast is really two
books in one In well preserved, beautifully
fooled calf binding are found "Regula religiosae
&C sanctae vitae s. Benedictus, Venice, 1489.
and "Dialogorum lber secundus de vita ct
mirabilibus S. Benedict" Gregorius Magnus,
Papa, Venice, 14so. Bernardinus Benalius was
the printer Of both. The two together make a
most effective little volume 3% by 2R inches.
Several fine woodcuts and occasional illumi-
mated initial letter make this an altogether
outstanding producticn Of the fifteenth CEN
tury
HE foregoing, although they are legitimate
J miniatures are nevertheless among the
largest Of the entire group. In contrast let us
skip to the latter part of the nineteenth CEN
tury and gaze at those tiny masterpieces Of the
printers art which today are pointed to as
being the Mtlest Of the Titles" In 1896 an
peared the two smallest works ever printed
from movable type the Mite" published in
Grimsby, England, by E. A. Robinson, measur-
ing s-16 by 7-16 Of an inch, and the Calico
a Madame Cristina di Lorena," published in
Padua, Italy. by the Salmin Press. which
measures only % by y Of an inch.
The Mite, composed of % pages and with
seven Illustrations. frankly confesses that it
was issued as a curiosity The type used is
brilliant, 20 lines to the inch In the "Galleo'
the famous "dy's-eye type is used making the
work not only the smallest printed from nova
Die type, but also from the smallest font of type
ever cast 1t is the same type as that used for
the exquisite Divine Comedy of Dante pub
hshed in Milan in 1878, which type was SUD-
posed to have been destroyed, but fortunately
was not
Incidentally those two products of ulrica
HoepH Of Milan, Dante's La Divina Com
media" and "Galleria Dantesea," win alwavs
stand as tiny monuments to the art of uriut-
ing Published in 1878 and 1880 respectively
tney were printed from Antonio, Parina,s
marvellous "occhio di mosea" (hy's-eye type)
the smallest ever cast It Is said that Eve
years were required for the compositor to set
the type for the "Divina Commed~" alone
and that at the end of the task his sight was
ruined. 1t is hard to imagine a more perfect
tribute TO Dante than this beautiful little
ed1tlon OF his works Both volumes are superbfy
bound and measure only az by * inches
IL Is only hitting that before going further we
snoaid mention what Is probably the most
famous Of all the ''littles" the Fitzgerald
edition Of the "Rubaiyat" OF Omar Khayyanu
Cleveland.
ohie, in 1900. Measuring only 5-Is of an inch
square, It is the worlds smallest book. The an
pages OF tnis little gem were printed from IL
copper plates. four pages to each plate and
three verses Of the poem to each page OnIv
81 copies were taken from the plates, which
were tnen DESTROYED Although not taken from
movable type, the "Rubsiyat" is really a printed
pook The only part that photography PLAYED
was as a part of the process of making the
plates 1hese plates were made from a specially
printed large type edition. Of which only eight
copies were printed. Happily one of these
lection
Some years ago Mr. Meigs, having suffered
tne loss OF his only copy of the large type-
edition, appealed to the copyright once in the
Library Of Congress, and as two comics NJ
ooth the large type edition and the tiny edition
hAo oeen nleo Tor copyright, it was arranged to
return one copy of each to him. It is inter-
estrng TO note that the remaining conv of tba
tiny edition is not with the collection proner
Dut Is Kept on permanent exhibition where il
Is viewed by thousands Of visitors each wear
an excehent copy of Horace" Paris, 1928 is
worthy OF more than passing glance Printed
In the famous "microscopique" type of Henri
Olooe 20 lines to the inch) and bound in rich
y fooled green leather, it must be placed hut
step behind the 'Hoepli Dante from the stand
POINT OF perfection The overall measure
ments are 2% by ia inches peculiaritv or
this little work is that on 90 different ro,o-
appears an ornamental line, the center Of
which is'composed of the name Henri Didot-
In type less than half the size of the "micro-
scopique" in which the text Is printed
What might be called the conpanion voh,me
70 the Hoepi Dante. from the standpoint of
beauty and artistic composition, is the little
lie Kline de Petrarca," printed in Venice in
1879 The two copies in the collection are
wonderfully executed AS one copy is bound
IN single volume and the other in two VOL
umes, the contrast in the entirely different
bindings one of dark blue crushed leather and
the other of an old rose tinted leather. makes
a most effective little set.
Even as Izas', Walton's "Compleat Angler"
Is an ort~ n r1unh lovad xyorlr ot u,,orx