[Printing samples, two fragments from a book of devotions]. Nuremberg: Caspar Hochfeder, [not after 1495]

[The New Testament in Short-hand, by] Ieremiah Rich. Twentieth impression. London: Printed for Wm. Marshall ... & Jno. Marshall ..., [1700?]

Early Printed Books
Through the 18th Century

The earliest Western miniature book printed from movable type in the Lilly Library is a unique fragment from a fifteenth-century book of devotions, two quarter-sheets from a sixty-fourmo in eights printed by Casper Hochfeder in Nuremberg, not after 1495, which Frederick R. Goff describes as "the smallest book printed in the [15th] century." Other examples of early printing represent both the secular, especially reprinting the classics in Greek and Latin, as well as religious works. Robert and Andrew Foulis of Glasgow are especially noted for the clarity of their Greek type. Miniature religious works for personal use, psalters, books of hours and other devotional works easily made the transition from the manuscript tradition to print, and were available to a wider audience than the more expensive manuscripts. During this period also, miniature books for children appear, including such classics as Thomas Boreman's Gigantick Histories.