The Charlotte M. Smith Collection, a gift to the Libraries in 1996, numbers some 4,000 volumes. The books are less than 3″ tall or wide — and most are smaller in both dimensions. Principally collected by Charlotte M. Smith (1919-2002) of Newton, Iowa, the books range in date from the 17th century to the present. The range of subjects is equally broad, but many of the books concern, as well as demonstrate, arts of the book. The collection was exhibited in 1996 and that exhibition has been preserved virtually as Tiny Tomes. Mrs. Smith also wrote two articles for Books at Iowa: “The Joys of Miniature Books” and “The Tamazunchale Press: A Bibliographic Checklist.” Finally, Mrs. Smith’s papers and the records of the Tamazunchale Press form msc0457 the link leads to the finding aid for that collection.
All books in the Smith Collection have been cataloged and classified in the Libraries’ catalog, InfoHawk+ as of 2019. Searching the catalog using the subject heading “miniature books” will bring up the majority of titles.