Small Books

"Ever since Man learned how to reduce his thoughts to some form of writing, there have been miniaturists, and with the advent of the art of bookmaking, miniature book were also published along with their larger companions."
Kalman L Levitan, 1917-2002, The People of the Little Book, 1983.

Small books and writing have evolved together since record keeping began. Cuneiform tablets, the size of miniature books, were used to keep inventory and recorded religious events. Small printed books, as well as manuscripts like the Book of Hours, are handy, easily carried, and readily concealed. Most can be relatively inexpensive compared to regular sized books.

Once printing began, religious works, literature, and broadsheets were extensively distributed. Beginning in the 17th century, tiny books were published for use by children, to encourage reading and faithfulness. Small books for clerics and the faithful--GTU has over 200 from the 17th century to the present--include hymnals, prayer books, sacred writings, and the Bible.

Unique curiosities are tiny versions of the Bible, Thumb Bibles. Around 130 versions, these books contained abbreviated stories from the Bible and were popular in the 18th-19th centuries, primarily for children. Various Jewish religious works, both in codex and scroll form, were created for family use and that could be easily hidden. Tiny Qur’ans were printed at different times, including ones by a Scottish press for soldiers from India serving in World War I. In India, publishers beginning around 1900 began publishing miniature versions of the Bhagavad Gita. Some of these books were used as amulets. A side effect of these smaller versions, besides promoting reading by a single person, these books sometimes facilitated individual spiritual moments.

Small Tracts were popularly printed in the 19th century. Abraham Lincoln provided Union soldiers with a small pamphlet announcing the Emancipation of slaves to be distributed in the South (nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2012.40). Part of the Third Great Awakening, Christian evangelical organizations distributed millions of tracts to promote their faith. Today’s mini zines are similar in size and address specific markets, however with relatively few copies.

Modern miniature books (officially 3 inches or smaller) are printed by large and specialist publishers on topical issues. Smaller printings may be from 30 or 50 copies, sometimes with hand coloring, and up to 500 copies (Prayers Written at Vailima). A few books have had a large distribution. Mao’s Red Book during the 1960s-1970s had an overall printing of a billion copies in multiple languages worldwide. The United States Constitution and related documents in a vest pocket size sells thousands of copies each year.

Most items here and on display are from Graduate Theological Union’s collection of rare books and Special Collections. Two editions, the 1841 Bible with the wrap around red cover and the Thumb Bible were borrowed from the San Francisco Theological Seminary, University of Redlands Graduate School of Theology.