The Lord’s Prayer
[Mainz Gutenberg Museum 1952]
£ 800
Minuscule prayer book, the smallest type-printed book in the world at the time of its printing in 1952. It contains the Lord’s Prayer in seven languages in each page: English (British and American), French, German, Dutch, Spanish and Swedish. In a dark brown morocco binding (5 x 5 mm), gilt ruling and central cross on upper cover, in a specially designed plexiglass case with pivoting top opening and a strong magnifying glass on the lid, in a protective box with a red velvet cushion.
This fascinating miniature publication was sold to gather funds for the reconstruction of the Gutenberg Museum of printing, in Mainz. The volume was not produced through photographic reduction, but that each page was cut by a foundry. This book was bound and gilt-stamped by hand, a very delicate and time-consuming undertaking.
Bondy p. 155