About The Michael Canoso Miniature Book Collection
The Michael Canoso Miniature Book Collection was donated in 2007 by Michael Canoso. It includes books smaller than 3 inches by 3 inches as well as a selection of artists' books, some pieces of which date from as early as 1800.
A variety of subjects are represented from rock art to botanical specimens, as well as a wide selection of publishers. Cataloged items can be browsed online by completing a keyword search for "Canoso Miniature Book."
FAQs
The Library of Congress defines a miniature book as those books of 10 cm or less in height. Mr. Canoso’s collection includes some items over 10 cm. All those 10 cm and under have the subject heading “Miniature books—Specimens."
To accommodate some of the larger items in the Canoso Collection, a miniature book portfolio section was created.
Works of art realized in the form of a book. Artists' books may be published in limited editions or as one-of-a-kind objects (known as "uniques") in a variety of forms including scrolls, fold-outs, pop-ups, concertinas, or loose items contained in some form of a box, as well as bound printed sheets. Artists have been active in printing and book production for centuries, but the artists' book is primarily a late 20th century form.
Das kleinste Buch der Welt
- This tiny book is almost the size of a pencil tip with its longest side being only 3 millimeters. Each page of the tiny book is a letter of the Roman Alphabet in color.
Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup
- This miniature book is only 4mm in size, smaller than a penny. and the accompanying booklet to the poem "Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup." This poem is in both English and Chinese.
Herzlichen Glückwunsch zur Vermählung
- This miniature book in German titled, "Herzlichen Glückwunsch zur Vermählung" which roughly translates to "Congratulations on the Marriage" is approximately 5 millimeters in length and was created by the Gutenberg Shop to raise funds for the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, Germany.
Lord's Prayer
- This miniature book of The Lord's Prayer was made by the Gutenberg Shop to raise funds for the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, Germany. The miniature book is approximately 6 x 7 millimeters in length, making it one of the smallest books in our collection. The miniature book features TheLord's Prayer in seven translations.
Serments d'amour
- This book is titled, "Serments d'amour" which roughly translates from French into "love oaths." The text is "I love you" in multiple languages.
- Child's Bible, with plates
A Lady of Cincinnati, 1834
- Paradise Lost
John Milton, 1835
- The Psalms of David
Isaac Watts, 1831
The books have come from over 340 different publishers (some lack publication information) and at least 23 countries.
Most books are in English; other languages include: Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Middle English, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Maori, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish. One book contains a single Bible verse translated into 267 languages.
