Evening star., 1932-04-03


by scores of miles It is hard to visualize an
integral part Of this great institution which
may be measured only in hundreds Of volumes,
and very few hundred at that, yet it Is
nevertheless true that tucked away in an OBJ
scure corner of the Rare Book Room is one Of
the most fascinating and self-suf1icient little
collections that might care to view.
Comprising only 600 volumes, the
miniature collection as it stands today is not
the result of any particular effort, but Is the
logical outcome of years of segregation Of those
little masterpieces of the publishers and book
binders art which were too small to be placed
on the open shelves 1t is feared that the
dyed the wool cole ztor of the Titles would
look in vain for those rarities of his hobby,
the John Taylor Thumb Bibles, the earlier
miniature ahnanacs examples Of the biblope-
CYSTIC skill of such workmen Charles Lewis,
and a host Of other well known but scarce"
items.
And yet the very diversity and numerical
strength Of the collection insures TO the coli.
lector as well as to the Iayman a field of in
terest that is out of all proportion to the sine
of the tiny subjects Who can deny the charm
and fascination of small things, whether they
be little children or little books? And who
can help appreciating the height of perfection
that is reached in SO many OF the little tonnes?
When it is remembered that each and every
one of them must measure not more than four
inches in height tand most OF them average
well under that) it may be readily understood
that we are glinpsing a select society indeed.
Although the "lttles" because Of their size
demand and receive respectful attention, that
Is far from being their only claim to distine-
ton. Their lineage is as ancient and honorable
as the art of making books itself, and the bib
Iophile whatever his field may be, can hardly
avoid stumbling over one or more OF the mites
as he trudges along. Even before Johann
Gutenberg set up his first printing press in
the middle of the fifteenth century, numerous
small books IN manuscript were bringing pleas
ure to the Italian nobility.
True, in many cases they were more orna-
mental than useful, they were often worn
as personal adognments but in those cases
the superb workmanship Of the gold and silver
bindings and the marvellous illumination OF
the tiny two-inch pages have never been
equaled much less surpassed in all the sue
ceedng centuries.
Within a very short time after the discovery
of printing, the greatest craftsmen Of the trade
were using the miniature q form for ex-
pressing the finest points Of their art As
early as 1475, just 20 years after the printing
OF the Gutenberg Bible, Nicholas Jenson OF
Venice had produced On velllm the beautiful
little "Onicium Beatae Mariae Virginis," orna-
mented with many richly illuminated initial
letters printed in red and black, with IL lines
to the page, and In all just trifie over three
inches high
The sixteenth century brings many excellent
examples of the miniatures, among which are
a Book of Hours" probably printed IN Paris
about 1900; three issues OF the Plantin Press
of Antwerp-namely M Tulln Ciceronis Epis-
toIae" 1867; "Psamorum Liber," 1884, and
"'Kalendarium GregoEianum," 1885, the smallest
work ever issued by that press; Tablet for
Gentlewomen," printed in London by William
Seres in 1874, and Caesar" printed IN nahc
types by Vascovan at Paris in 1859. The famous
press of the Etiennes is represented by the
Hymns of Synesius Cyrenaeus," published
in 1868.
The odd little Thumb Bibles Of John Tay-
lor the Water Poet" are among the smallest
and best known of the seventeenth century
miniatures. The seventeenth and eighteenth
century editions of this work are exceedingly
rare as only IA copies, covering all eight issues
from 1914 to 1850, are known to exist, and
OF these three copies are imperfect We can
hardly pass over this period without calling at
tention to the work of Jean Jannon Of Sedan.
Born in April, 1880, there is reason to believe
that he came to Paris from his native Switzer-
land After various misfortunes he was invited
to come to Sedan and assume the title Of i'm
primeur de excellence ct de PAcademie
Sedanoise
He is important to photographers as having
produced the first French type specimen book.
However Jannon himself most proud OF
his small size type, which, under the name OF
Ia Sedanoise," has brought him lasting fame
among the historians of printing. During the
years 1625-1628 there issued from his press in
rapid succession Virgil" O625), Horace
U62O and a tiny Greek testament Q628), all
masterpieces and printed with an amazing
clarity and cleanness. The Greek testament is
the smallest ever printed, with the exception
of Pickerirgs miniature edition Of 1928. To
round out the century might add as worthy
of note the "Exercice du Chretien" Paris,
Muguet, 1892 measuring only IL by / inch,
and the huge Augsburg "Biblische Augen und
Seelenust," 1896 (ful az inches high. and
containing 152 copper plate Illustrations.
"A nth the eighteenth century the Illustrations