Finger Prayer Book

Finger Prayer Book, 3.5 x 1 inches, circa 1890's, Oxford Press

In considering the comparative readability of the I-Phone versus the Kindle, this late 19th century example came to mind. Here is a finger sized Book of Common Prayer, one of the miniature books in the GTU Rare Book Collection. A few sections were not printed in order to keep the size to a minimum. Quite readable, these books were certainly a convenient size to carry.

Miniature books in the United States are usually 3 inches in height or less, so this example is slightly taller than normal to this format. However, outside of the US the height may be up to 4 inches (90 cm). By any account, as an example of small yet readable text size, this work seems worthy of inclusion. For further information on the Internet, UCLA's Clark Library has an online exhibit on miniature books. Most of the earliest examples are religious.

To locate additional miniature books in our collection, search under subjects in Grace: "Miniature books -- Specimens". This book is part of our extensive collection of the Book of Common Prayer.