The Lilly Library at Indiana University brings a world of knowledge to your fingertips – literally.
The library owns thousands of miniature books, measuring three inches or less. Some are so small they sit comfortably on the end of a finger.
But the library’s collection itself isn't tiny at all. In fact, it's one of the largest in the world. Sixteen thousand miniature volumes fill the shelves – miniature shelves of course – of the library.
Some copies are so small that you need a pair of tweezers to flip through the pages.
The collection was donated in the early 1990s by Ruth E. Adomeit, an Ohio school teacher. Adomeit began what she described as the “incurable disease” of collecting in 1938 and continued for nearly six decades, according to a plaque under the collection’s showcase.
“She was really, really ferocious in her love for this subject,” said Sarah McElroy Mitchell, the library’s curator for religious contents. “It was a fantastic gift that really speaks to the mission of our library. (Lilly Library has) managed to grow and become really fabulous in certain areas due to the work of collectors like Ruth Adomeit, who spent her entire life specializing in one area.”
Adomeit curated a rare collection of books from around the world.
“She traveled widely, which is a little unusual for a single woman of her time,” McElroy Mitchell said. “Everywhere she went, she would learn the phrase for tiny books, and she would go with just about anyone who was like, ‘I know where the tiny books are.’”
The collection dates back centuries. It includes sets of tiny books containing the works of William Shakespeare, pamphlets on once-illegal topics like contraception, and the Bible amongst other things.
But why would anyone be interested in a three-inch book?
The answer is all about convenience.
Miniature books were popular due to their portability and novelty. They were convenient for travelers and served as gifts in an era when books were expensive.
Additionally, miniature books served as handy references; religious texts or the periodic table, for instance, could easily fit into a person’s coat pocket.
“There are actual reference books that were created in miniature so that you could pull something out of your pocket to refer to a calendar, laws of physics, or chemical formulas, depending on your field of study and not take up too much space on your shelf,” McElroy Mitchell said. “There are a lot of people who are just trying to push the boundaries of what can be done.”
Other books were made for plain fun. One set of volumes within the collection mimics Russian nesting dolls. Each book contains a smaller book inside of it.
Another book folds out to show the viewer an illustration of Alice in Wonderland.
"They're not all intended for you to read, especially some of the absolute tiniest ones; there's no way you could comfortably read them without absolutely destroying the object," McElroy Mitchell said.
Within the collection is a frame titled "The Smallest Books in the World." Though that title is now outdated, it was named by Adomeit herself and maintained by the library. Inside the frame are microscopic books. For instance, "Poems" by Edgar Guest is one of the smallest handwritten books in the world. It looks like a speck compared to even the volumes measuring three inches tall.
So how can the public examine this unique collection?
The Lilly Library gives free, guided tours every Friday. At 2 p.m., a general tour covers the history of the library and featured items, including tiny books.
