The art of books

Remember the good old days, when a book was a piece of beauty in and of itself? Nope, me neither. My entire life has been dominated by large publishing houses pushing out poorly-bound books with cardboard covers and dime-a-dozen book jackets. But open up Miniature Books: 4,000 years of tiny treasures by Anne Bromer and Julian Edison, and see what an art reading used to be. Each item in this absolutely fascinating book is no taller than three inches. Books hidden in corks, walnuts and lockets. Books bound in enamel, silver, and mother-of-pearl. Hand-written, hand-painted, hand-marbled, hand-tooled. Handy books. Books of scripture, political propaganda, and erotica. Every single page of this wonderful book is full of things I would hock my eye teeth to get hold of. The text flows nicely and will give you many 'Oh wow!' moments. Artists will appreciate the usefulness of the art, and readers will appreciate the beauty of the words. This book is highly recommended and guaranteed to send you scurrying off to eBay to start your own collection of miniature books.