The lawyers stack in the back room is 3 shelves high with a 4 drawer base. One of those drawers is full of an array of little books.
A really nice leather bound mini dictionary set with marbled fore, top and lower edges. Even comes with a tiny magnifying glass. Undated made in England.
Again, these books have no publication dates. Hamlet and As You Like It. I’ve not been able to find out anything about these. They are marked on the back in gold imprint “Neiman Marcus”, “Made in England” and “Nigel Quiney Design”. I’m guessing they might be from the 1970’s or ’80’s. I found a little information about Nigel Quiney. Maybe our Jane has heard of him. Apparently he became famous in the 1970’s for pop art wrapping paper for the rich and famous.
These are from The Tartan Series. There was a Victorian craze for miniature books, apparently and Scottish publisher David Bryce was a big player in meeting the needs of the consumer. He used photo lithography to reduce existing plates to the miniature versions. The 2 books I have are titled The Lady of the Lake and Burns Birthday Book. The Birthday Book has a verse for each day of the year and 3 blank lines, maybe to record or schedule important events.
Looking at January 6th, a significant day for me, here is that days verse. But now our joy are fled. On winter blasts awa’; Yet maiden May, in rich array Again shall bring them a’.
Sorry to say that I have never heard of Nigel Quiney. The art and design world is a fickle thing, he must have been a flash in the pan.
In my computer search I only found that little snipet about him. However, there was a greeting card company and a digital publishing company, both in England, under that name. Couldn’t determine if it was him, family or coincidence. Apparently back in the day his wrapping paper was fashionable with the royal family. So, he must have been somebody at the time (until something else caught the royal’s attention). As for these little books from Neiman Marcus, or anything else he did, I could find nothing.