The macrocosm of the miniature book

Books play an invaluable role in the world’s cultural history, whatever their shape or content. However, the miniature books get more attention, because their decoration and printing takes a lot of time and labor. The Razumov Miniature Book Museum of Horlivka, specializing in small-format books, is unique in the entire Commonwealth of Independent States. The museum collection has more than 9,000 of these publications, including some in-house ones, in particular, Vasyl Stus and Shevchenko and Donetsk Region.

Currently, the museum holds books in 103 languages that were published in 57 countries in the 15th through 21st centuries, ranging in size from a 100-millimeter-long one to a volume of Pushkin’s works that is 60 times smaller than a poppy seed. The exhibition is complemented by miniature texts written on equine and human hair. These latter exhibits can be made out only under a microscope.

Most miniature books are held by private collectors. Actually, the history of the museum started with just such a private book collector, too, in the person of Horlivka resident Valentyn Razumov. It took him a very long time to assemble his exhibition. He found many books in cooperation with cosmonauts.

By the way, the Razumov Miniature Book Museum of Horlivka showed office equipment on November 13 which it had paid for with a grant it had won in a regional mini-projects competition, Horlivka newspaper Kochegarka reports. The newspaper notes that the museum had participated in and won such competitions several times before. The grants have helped the museum to modernize and computerize its operations. This year’s 20,000-hryvnia grant has helped the museum to buy a laptop, a plasma TV and a projector.