Don’t judge a book by its size.
That could be the message people take away from a traveling exhibit coming to the University of Louisville’s Ekstrom Library in June.
The Miniature Book Society will bring 63 tiny tomes to Special Collections June 7-July 2.
Miniature books are a format of collectible books, said Delinda Buie, head of Special Collections. They are just like any other book – except in size. In the United States, books that measure three inches or less in any dimension are classified as miniature. Elsewhere, four inches is the maximum size.
The MBS exhibit includes books that date to the 1800s as well as artists’ handmade books entered in its annual competition.
Special Collections itself has about 150 miniature books dating back to the early 19th century: Shakespeare and the Bible, an atlas, several dictionaries, poetry, The New England Primer published in 1840 and several editions of Alexander Pope’s Lilliputian Ode, Buie said.
The miniature book exhibit is open to the public during Ekstrom Library’s regular hours, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Centennial Graphics Group, Inc., a book publisher in New Albany, Ind., is co-sponsor with Special Collections.