Petite prayer book featured in auction of teeny tomes
The tiny tome measures just 5mm by 5mm, barely a quarter of the size of a postage stamp.
Printed in Munich in 1952, it contains the Lord’s Prayer in six languages: English, Dutch, French, German, Spanish and Swedish.
Together with a miniature Bible and New Testament, it is being sold at auction with an estimated price of £200-£300 (€291-€437).
The lot is one of the highlights of a Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts sale to be held at Christie’s in South Kensington on March 16.
A spokesman for the auction house said: “What makes the book so extraordinary is the fact it was printed with movable metal type, letter by letter. Each letter is astonishingly small. You do really need a magnifying glass to read the book.”
The book was printed as a novelty, but other lots in the auction were made with a specific purpose in mind.
They include a rare Atlas of the British Empire (43mm by 34mm) and a miniature newspaper called The Mite (20mm by 17mm), both part of Queen Mary’s dolls’ house library.
The sale also includes an extremely rare travelling library, or Bibliotheque Portative de Voyageur, produced in 1802.
Comprising works by Corneille, La Fontaine, Racine and others, the set was presented to one Edward Bury by his mother when he departed on a Grand Tour in the 19th century.
It is expected to fetch up to £3,000 (€4,372).
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