{"id":2478,"date":"2013-08-06T17:42:26","date_gmt":"2013-08-06T17:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/?p=2478"},"modified":"2019-01-14T21:20:13","modified_gmt":"2019-01-14T21:20:13","slug":"identifying-our-4mm-miniature-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/2013\/08\/06\/identifying-our-4mm-miniature-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Identifying our 4mm Miniature Book"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_2479\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2479\" style=\"width: 269px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microminiature_book_tiny.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-2479 \" src=\"http:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microminiature_book_tiny.jpg\" alt=\"tiny book perched on a fingertip\" width=\"269\" height=\"179\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microminiature_book_tiny.jpg 448w, https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microminiature_book_tiny-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 269px) 100vw, 269px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2479\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Microminiature Bible<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The University of Iowa Special Collections and University Archives is home to&nbsp;the Charlotte Smith Collection of miniature books with more than 4,000 tiny tomes.&nbsp; Most perplexing has been this&nbsp;microscopic&nbsp;Bible&nbsp;that remained unidentified, likely&nbsp;because we lacked the tools to&nbsp;adequately magnify the page with the publisher&#8217;s information.&nbsp; Highlighting this tiny&nbsp;book yesterday on our social media pages brought it to the attention of our conservator, Giselle Simon,&nbsp;who suggested that we try the microscope that recently arrived in the conservation lab.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-2478 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/2013\/08\/06\/identifying-our-4mm-miniature-book\/washedoutviewing\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/washedoutviewing-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/washedoutviewing-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/washedoutviewing-36x36.jpg 36w, https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/washedoutviewing-115x115.jpg 115w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/2013\/08\/06\/identifying-our-4mm-miniature-book\/colleen_microscope\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/Colleen_microscope-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/Colleen_microscope-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/Colleen_microscope-36x36.jpg 36w, https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/Colleen_microscope-115x115.jpg 115w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/2013\/08\/06\/identifying-our-4mm-miniature-book\/viewing\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/viewing-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"tiny book under a microscope\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/viewing-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/viewing-36x36.jpg 36w, https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/viewing-115x115.jpg 115w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>Handling it safely proved to be no easy task!&nbsp; With some extra sets of hands we were able to read the name of the publisher &#8211; Toppan Printing Co.&nbsp; (You can see the damage on this page from earlier attempts to read it).<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-2478 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/2013\/08\/06\/identifying-our-4mm-miniature-book\/microscope4\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microscope4-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Text viewed under the microscope\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-2485\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microscope4-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microscope4-36x36.jpg 36w, https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microscope4-115x115.jpg 115w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-2485'>\n\t\t\t\tText viewed under the microscope\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/2013\/08\/06\/identifying-our-4mm-miniature-book\/microscope3\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microscope3-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Text viewed under the microscope\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-2484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microscope3-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microscope3-36x36.jpg 36w, https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microscope3-115x115.jpg 115w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-2484'>\n\t\t\t\tText viewed under the microscope\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/2013\/08\/06\/identifying-our-4mm-miniature-book\/microscope2\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microscope2-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"Microscope view of publisher&#039;s information\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-2483\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microscope2-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microscope2-36x36.jpg 36w, https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microscope2-115x115.jpg 115w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-2-2483'>\n\t\t\t\tMicroscope view of publisher&#8217;s information\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>Following the trail we were able to identify the item as being a set of two books sold at the 1965 World&#8217;s Fair in New York.&nbsp; In fact, the larger miniature book in the set was already in the collection, unassociated with the ultra microminiature that could not be read.<\/p>\n<p>Now the two have been reunited and they will be cataloged together.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-3' class='gallery galleryid-2478 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/2013\/08\/06\/identifying-our-4mm-miniature-book\/small_mini_books\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/Small_mini_books-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-3-2489\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/Small_mini_books-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/Small_mini_books-36x36.jpg 36w, https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/Small_mini_books-115x115.jpg 115w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-3-2489'>\n\t\t\t\tThe two books in the collection, reunited.\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/2013\/08\/06\/identifying-our-4mm-miniature-book\/microbook_original\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microbook_original-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-3-2495\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microbook_original-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microbook_original-36x36.jpg 36w, https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/files\/2013\/08\/microbook_original-115x115.jpg 115w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-3-2495'>\n\t\t\t\tBooks as they appeared for sale at the 1965 World&#8217;s Fair. (Image from &#8220;Miniature Books&#8221; by Anne C. Bromer)\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>Citation&nbsp;as included in&nbsp;Anne C. Bromer&#8217;s excellent reference book, <em>Miniature Books: 4,000 Years of Tiny Treasures <\/em>from 2007.<\/p>\n<p><em>Holy Bible<\/em>, Tokyo: Toppan Printing Company, 1964.&nbsp; 4x4mm.&nbsp; Published to coincide with the New York World&#8217;s Fair in 1965, this Bible was printed by a new process called &#8220;microprinting.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The University of Iowa Special Collections and University Archives is home to&nbsp;the Charlotte Smith Collection of miniature books with more than 4,000 tiny tomes.&nbsp; Most perplexing has been this&nbsp;microscopic&nbsp;Bible&nbsp;that remained unidentified, likely&nbsp;because we lacked the tools to&nbsp;adequately magnify the page with the publisher&#8217;s information.&nbsp; Highlighting this tiny&nbsp;book yesterday on our social media pages brought it<a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/2013\/08\/06\/identifying-our-4mm-miniature-book\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">&#8220;Identifying our 4mm Miniature Book&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[209],"syndication":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2478"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/115"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2478"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6211,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2478\/revisions\/6211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2478"},{"taxonomy":"syndication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/syndication?post=2478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}