THE MINIATURE PRESSES PUBLISH SMALL

Talk about your small presses. There are small companies engaged in printing; and there are companies engaged in printing small. Indeed, miniature book publishing is one of the highest expressions of artistry in the printing and bindery profession. Often these tiny tomes, defined as books less than three inches in height, are crafted with hand-set type on table-top presses. The press runs are usually small, producing a limited number of editions. Many of them are beautifully detailed.

The Illinois State Historical Library in Springfield owns one such collection: miniature books from The Press of Ward Schori of Evanston.

Schori, often referred to as the "dean of miniature books," was an internationally known expert in the field until his death in 1994. (The historical library bought his collection the year before he died.) Schori spent more than 70 years in the publishing business, serving as a writer and editor at several Illinois newspapers. He became intrigued with miniature book publishing and established his own press. Schori's first miniature volume. To A Skylark, was published in 1962. More than 70 titles followed.

Schori's subject matter is eclectic, ranging from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to Abraham Lincoln. There are Christmas carols and ballads: Ever hear of The Ballad of Yukon Jake? One-act plays, including Mrs. Peckham's Carouse by Illinois writer George Ade, are included in the collection. A poetry collection entitled Love Poems and Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities represent the classics. History comes to life in We Shall Pay Any Price, Bear Any Burden, a recounting of John F. Kennedy's funeral. A cookbook entitled Quickie Cuisine shares shelf space with the Selected Work of Paul Ashbrook featuring reproductions of paintings, some of which depict scenes around Springfield. Everything 1 Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum is excerpted in miniature, featuring illustrations from old school primers.

The books' bindings — many of them ornate — reflect the diverse subject matter. Strange hobbies are recounted in Snake- Handling Sunday in Her Blue Church. The book is appropriately bound in "specially treated shed skin of python," retrieved from the zoo. The Autobiographical Narrative of Abraham Lincoln is presented in a three- volume red, white and blue set with gold lettering on the cover. One of several books in the collection by or about Mark Twain, Mark Twain on Birds, features a bird illustration embossed on a tiny silverplated panel, with a real 13-cent postage stamp depicting a blue jay attached to the frontispiece.

Publisher Schori writes tongue in cheek in the colophon of The False Gems by Guy de Maupassant that the rich black suede cover features a "real, genuine, authentic, imitation DIAMON D in a rosette of gold surrounded by a specially drawn golden border." Nearer My Bard to Thee, a book about William Shakespeare, is richly appointed in burgundy suede, with a three- dimensional gold bust of Shakespeare embossed on the cover.

After the publisher's death, Schori's family published three books of The Press of Ward Schori bringing his miniature work to a close.

Can you judge a book by its cover? Maybe not all the time. But the little library from The Press of Ward Schori, occupying less space than the American Heritage Dictionary, evokes another old saying: Good things come in small packages.
Linda Classen Anderson

21/ December 1997 Illinois Issues