Beschreibung:

MINIATURE BOOKS - DAVID BRYCEAn extensive collection of some 201 works, published by David Bryce of Glasgow, including six copies of the Koran (one of which is an exceptionally rare example printed entirely in gold), the Khordeh Avesta, four copies of the Ghita-Pancha-Ratna, numerous sets of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare (including the famed Ellen Terry series, "Bryce's greatest achievement as a leading promoter of miniature books" according to Bondy), the Midget Library, three sets of the Mite Series in tartan, three copies of the extremely rare and tiny Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard (the smallest Bryce book, "exceedingly rare... at one time said not to exist", per Bondy), three copies of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, a Holy Bible once owned by Nora Bryce herself (plus 25 other Bibles), numerous copies of the miniature Dictionaries and Thumb Series, and a variety of sets of poetical works by Scott, Tennyson and Burns, some sets housed in their original (sometimes revolving) bookcases, the majority in original publisher's bindings, Glasgow, David Bryce [various dates]FootnotesTHE MOST COMPREHENSIVE AND EXTENSIVE COLLECTION OF MINIATURE BOOKS PUBLISHED BY DAVID BRYCE & SON OF GLASGOW TO HAVE EVER APPEARED ON THE MARKET, containing many of the books described in the chapter devoted to Bryce in Louis Bondy's Miniature Books, 1981.
A full list of the collection is available on request, but some of the principle works include:
--SHAKESPEARE (WILLIAM) Complete Works, 40 vol., 3 sets, dedicated to the actress Ellen Terry illustrated frontispiece, gilt cloth bindings (red, dark turquoise and forest green), housed in the original revolving bookcases by Bumpus, 55 x 38mm. [Bondy 114; Spielmann 459], 1904
--SHAKESPEARE (WILLIAM) Complete Works, 40 vol., 2 sets, dedicated to the actress Ellen Terry illustrated frontispiece, India paper, gilt Harlequin leather, housed in revolving bookcases by Bumpus, some covers sunned, 50 x 35mm, [Bondy 114; Spielmann 459], 1904
--SHAKESPEARE (WILLIAM) and J. TALFORD BLAIR (ed.). Complete Works, 40 vol. illustrated frontispiece, red leather gilt, the majority with dust-jackets, contained in an Art Nouveau gated hanging wooden bookcase with minor wear, 50 x 30mm., 1915
--SHAKESPEARE (WILLIAM) Complete Works, 40 vol. bound in 20, 2 sets, dedicated to the actress Ellen Terry illustrated frontispiece, red leather, housed in a wooden replica of Shakespeare's desk and in a oak-wood chest with a drop front (to which is fixed a metal bust of Shakespeare), 54 x 33mm, c.1900
--[Qur'an] The Koran, PRINTED ENTIRELY IN GOLD, in Arabic, decorated borders to each page, red morocco gilt, housed in a typical 'Bryce style' white metal hinged locket with inset magnifier, a very rare example as only a few were printed in gold, 27 x 19mm [Bondy 111], c.1900
--[Chained Bible] 'Smallest Bible in the World', The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments, Produced for the Tercentenary Commemoration of the Authorised Version of the English Bible, illustrated frontispiece, brown blind-stamped roan, with magnifier in pocket inside front cover, chained to a model wooden lectern (measuring 139mm.), hinges lose, contained in its original box with a pictorial label which is very rare [Bondy p.109], 42 x 30mm., c.1901
--[Midget Library], complete 12 vol. set (German English Dictionary; French English Dictionary; English Dictionary; Tourist's Conversational Guide in English French German Italian; Golden Thoughts from Great Authors; The Koran; New Testament; Robert Burns; English Scots and Irish Songs; Animals; Birds), illustrated frontispieces, limp red morocco gilt, minor wear [Bondy 72, 107, 11, 113], housed in original and very rare Jahncke's tin, with hinged door and fitted glass fronted case set in an angled wooden stand, all measure 26 x 12mm. (except the New Testament which is 18 x 15mm.), 1925
--The Allies Bible in Khaki, 5 copies (one with the original dust-jacket and all but one with magnifying glass), prefaced with the national anthems of the Allies, a recessional by Rudyard Kipling, and Neil Munro's "Evening Prayer of a People", khaki cloth, minor wear [Bondy 110], c.1914
--The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments Translated out of the Original Tongues ... by His majesty's special command, illustrations, inscription by Nora Bryce on first fly-leaves ("Nora Bryce – Given to me by Davie's father on my first visit to 60 Berkeley St. Glasgow – August 1914."), cream Oxford morocco gilt, yapp edges, with magnifying glass [Spielmann 24-25], 40 x 30mm., c.1900
--'Illustrated Miniature Bible': The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments, Souvenir of the Glasgow Exhibition, illustrations, dark green cloth, minor shelf-wear, 45 x 30mm., c.1901
--New Testament, 3 copies, gilt leather (green, charcoal, and red) [Bondy p.111, "staggeringly small"], 20 x 16mm., 1896
--"The Mite Series in Tartan" (including Burns' Poems First Edition 1786; Bryce's English Dictionary; English Scotch and Irish Songs; My Tiny Alphabet Book; My Tiny Alphabet Book), illustrations in colour, tartan paper covers over red cloth, housed in a in fitted plain wooden box divided into six compartments with hinged glazed top, sixth space in the box as a framed portrait of Burns beneath a magnifying glass, 27 x 20mm., 75 x 80mm. (box), c.1905
--[The Coronation Bible], Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments Translated out of the Original Tongues ... by His Majesty's Special Command, 5 copies, illustrations, two in purple cloth with round medallion photograph on upper cover, two in dark tan embossed leather, one in dark red buckram [Bondy 109], 43 x 35mm., 1902, 1911 and 1914
--English and German Dictionary, red leather, 31 x 19mm., c. 1896
--Khordeh Avesta, red morocco gilt, housed in a white metal hinged locket with inset magnifier and engraved floral decoration, overall 26 x 19mm., c.1900
--'Smallest English Classic in the World': Thomas Gray, An Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, 3 copies, maroon leather gilt, 17 x 13mm. [Bondy p.113-4], 1911
--Tourist's Conversational Guide in English, French, German, Italian, red leather gilt, housed in a sterling silver hinged locket with embossed floral design around inset magnifier and to rear, 26 x 19mm., c.1900
--Old English Scotch and Irish Songs, illustrated with twenty-four original sketches by A.S. Boyd, red paper wrappers, housed in a sterling silver plain case with inset magnifier and slide hinge, 26 x 19mm., c.1900
--Napoleon's Book of Fate, 2 copies, one fold out plate, red leather gilt and blue leather gilt, 50 x 34mm., c.1905
--SCOTT (WALTER) and ROBERT BURNS Poems, 12 vol. (double set of 6 vols. each), illustrated, early ownership inscription on first fly-leaves with 1895 date, green buckram gilt and embossed, minor wear, 85 x 60mm., housed in a double-hinged and lidded tartanware box, 96 x 75 x 115mm., Fredrick A. Stokes and Brother, New York. c.1890's
--BURNS (ROBERT) The Poetical works of Robert Burns Pearl Edition, illustrated frontispiece, various bookplates, ownership signature and collation markings of bibliographer Edward Gordon Duff and bookplate of Grace Broecker, brown morocco by Fazakerley (Liverpool) with gilt text in Greek on upper cover, fore-edge painting comprising a circular portrait of Burns, flanked by his birthplace at Alloway, and the old 'Brig O Doon', with slipcase, minor wear [not in Bondy or Spielmann; not in NLS collection], 85 x 60mm., c.1890
--The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, 3 copies, green leather gilt, dark green marbled board, cream boards with red and gold print decoration, minor wear, 53 x 35mm. (one copy), 70 x 80mm., c.1904
--My Tiny Alphabet Book, 2 copies, colour illustrations, respectively in red and black leather gilt respectively [Bondy 72, 116], 25 x 19mm., c.1900
--David Bryce & Son Catalogue, illustrated, publisher's illustrated paper wrappers, minor age-toning, 86 x 60mm. c.1900
The collection also includes bookstands and bookends in wood, silver and metal and other ephemera related to the Bryce publishing business and family life, including invoice statements from circa 1881 and two photographs, one of David Bryce and a Bryce family group from circa 1907-1910.
In a short space of time Bryce went from the position of a relatively unknown publisher to that of a vastly successful entrepreneur, using the latest printing technologies to produce "more wee books than the total world production up to that time" (James Henderson 'David Bryce & Son', The Newsletter of the LXIV-mos, no. 11, 15 October 1928). As Bryce wrote in 1876, "I descended to the miniature, mite and midget size, producing a little dictionary, the smallest in the world, in a locket accompanied by a magnifying glass. I had many a scoff and jeer as to the absurdity of the production, nevertheless it at once appealed... and its sales are now over 100,000" (Bondy 103). Bryce was in charge of the publishing house until 1913 when, due to financial difficulties, the business was taken over by Gowans & Gray Ltd.
Bryce's Thumb Dictionary is one of the earliest miniature books published by Bryce in the early 1890s; these were printed by letterpress and are therefore larger. Other larger miniature books form this period include Bryce's Thumb Gazetteer of the World and The Book of Common Prayer.
One of Bryce's most successful ventures was The Smallest English Dictionary in the World, usually housed in a hinged metal locket with a circular magnifying glass set into the top cover. Other miniature dictionaries he produced are The Smallest French and English Dictionary in the World and A New Pocket Dictionary of the English and German Language – all of which are included in this collection.
The Koran is an "almost legendary title" published by Bryce, as described by Bondy. Printed entirely in Arabic, it was most likely first issued in 1900. As was common with Bryce's publications, the Koran too was issued in the typical metal lockets with inset magnifier and in bindings in gilt stamped red or black morocco. This collection includes six copies of the Koran, one of which is especially rare as it is printed entirely in gold. The Bhagavad Ghita and the Khordeh Avesta are two other Bryce miniatures in foreign script, also published at the start of the twentieth century and today much rarer than the Koran – this collection includes four copies of the Bhagavad Ghita and one copy of the Khordeh Avesta.