Tiny Treasures

If you've ever seen Rauner's Instagram, you may know that Tuesday is a bit of a special day when we post pictures of our coolest and littlest artifacts. We recently went through our most popular post of 2017 and discovered that our followers are big fans of these #tintytuesday posts, especially those featuring miniature books! And by "miniature," we mean really really tiny. The generally accepted definition of a miniature book is that it measures less than three inches, and many of the ones in the collection are somewhere around the size of a thumbprint. In cases where they fit comfortably in the palm of your hand, or slip into a pocket for easy transport, miniature books have a few claims to utility. Mostly, though, they're just a lot of fun, and often surprisingly elaborate and beautiful. For fingerprint sized books, they definitely rival their larger counterparts in aesthetic design!

In celebration of the completed cataloguing of our Madelyn Hickmott miniatures collection, and as a nod to our many miniature book fans on Instagram, we've put together a case exhibit of some of our favorite miniatures! Come by and check it out in the lobby of Rauner. Less than half of the collection is in the case, so if you're especially curious, come in to the reading room and ask at the front desk to see the others, including Miniatures 25, shown above.