Read All About It

Everything is cuter in miniature: kittens, puppies, hamburgers (sliders, anyone?). A new exhibit at Washington University's Olin Library (Forsyth and Skinker boulevards; 314-935-5495 or library.wustl.edu) proves that tiny chic extends to books, too. Miniature Books: 4,000 Years of Tiny Treasures is on view daily until Friday, June 6, and the exhibition features 200 of Julian Edison's eensy-weensy books, all smaller than three-by-three inches. Check out a work with the oldest known text printed on paper (a Japanese prayer scroll from 770 A.D.), the smallest book ever printed with movable type (from the nineteenth century, when tiny was big), and hand-written and drawn miniatures by Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso and Salman Rushdie. Some of the books' bindings are treasures in and of themselves, from ornamental silver and gold enameling to a prayer book encrusted with more than 400 emeralds — who says you can't judge a book by its cover?
April 21-June 6, 2008