BOOKS AND WRITERS

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19814, 19 February 1936, Page 4

BOOKS AND WRITERS

COMMENTS AND EXTRACTS. •* Disarmament is a retrograde step which means Disablement.” W- —Oeorge Bernard Shaw.

MARVELS OF BOOKLAND. VOLUMES UNDER A SIXPENCE. GREETING ON RICE GRAIN. Enthusiasts who delight in Lilliputian craftsmanship will be interested in a claim from Australia that the two smallest New Testaments in the world are to be seen at Sydney, says a London paper. One measures less than threequarters of an inch by half an inch. This curiosity is owned by Major ,«J\ones, chief of the Commoriwealth Investigation Branch, and is used for swearing-in witnesses. The other Testament is also threequarters of an inch in length, but it has a width of five-eighths of an inch. It was presented to the Commonwealth National Library by Mr Hubert Haes, of Essex. These Testaments, however, are not the smallest books in the world. In fact, there are several miniature volumes in existence that are little more than half their size. Smallest Book Produced. Perhaps the smallest book ever produced is one that was printed by a Dutch craftsman just over 300' years ago. Incredible though it may seem, this book is only seven-sixteenths of an inch long and three-sixteenths of an inch wide! Its nearest rival is a flawless copy of '‘Galileo.” This masterpiece measures one-half by one-quarter of an t inch! Both books were brought to London in 1927 for an exhibition promoted by the London Library. Also on view were a red-covered Bible that could be concealed under a postage-stamp, and a complete edition of Robert Burns’ earlier poems with pages measuring one inch by half an inch. Even more wonderful was a minute copy of the Koran. So small that it could be covered by a half-crown, this book was hand-written throughout, and yet it could be- read quite easily with the aid of a magnifying glass! Craze of a Century Ago. About a century ago England was swept by a craze for collecting miniature volumes, with the result that many of the leading publishing firms of the time concentrated on meeting the unusual demand. The standard work chosen for presentation in minute form was the Bible, but almanacs also figured to a considerable extent in these Lilliputian libraries, whose contents were undoubtedly marvels of craftsmanship. A fine example of the miniature books that were produced in early Victorian days realised £5 10s at a Sotheby sale within the last ten years. It was a copy of Schloss’ Bijou Almanac for 1843, measuring seveneighths of an inch by half an inch, and containing a number of finely-exe-cuted paintings by Miss Mary Mitford, a well-known artist of the last century. 143 Letters on Rice Grain. Microscopic prin.t is not always confined to books. For instance, some years ago the principal of a London motoring school received the following message from an Indian student: With best wishes for your birthday and the New Year. To C. H. Roberts, Esquire, A.1.A.E., F.1.M.T., Principal of the Automobile Engineering Training College. From D.S. Pan- ; dit, A.E.,~ Nagpur, India. This greeting of 143 letters was j engraved on a single grain of rice! NEW ZEALAND AUTHORESS. DAY OF SEX NOVEL DONE. GROWTH OF NEW LIBRARIES. Trim out excess of background, strengthen plot construction, and, presto, ready good Australian novels can be launched from the literary stocks right into the hands of London publishers—that, at least, is the opinion of Rosemary Rees, a New Zealand authoress. Miss Rees, who is also an actress, arrived in Sydney last week from London by the Moldavia, on a holiday visit. She had heard it said that London publishers did not like a novel with an Australian setting, she said, but this was not so. “Very probably, there has been far too much background in some stories and not enough plot, but I am perfectly certain that a really good story with an Australian background would be snapped up by any publisher,” she declared. Sex Novel Sublimated* The day of the “sex novel” is done, she said. It has been replaced by travel literature/ and modern biography. The growth of libraries In England, particularly the “twopenny libraries,” had been remarkable in the past few years, and had been a real boon to authors. Girls who used to read nothing but paper-covered novelettes were now turning to real novels, and new libraries were springing up all over England like mushrooms. Miss Rees is the author of several novels, including "April’s Sowing,” which ran Into several English editions. Miss Rec.s hopes to stay in Sydney for several months.

MUCH-SOUGHT BOOK. “SEVEN PILLARS OF WISDOM.” A LONG WAITING LIST. The way in which the adventures of Lawrence of Arabia have interested British readers is illustrated by the similarity of the experiences of the library at South Shields, England, and the Canterbury Public Library. Mr E. J. Bell, librarian of the Canterbury Library, showed a reporter a report of the South Shields library, ■which said that there had been a tremendous demand for “The Seven Pillars of Wisdom,” Lawrence’s account of his own exploits, and the applications for reservation had reached a total of 60. It would be two years before the sixtieth applicant received the book. At the Christchurch library 21 subscribers had already read one of the several copies in the library, and a further 48 were awaiting their turn. It would take eight or nine months before all were satisfied. Many subscribers, dismayed at the long waiting list, had contented themselves with “Revolt in the Desert,” an abridged version, which will not be reprinted, as “The Seven Pillars of 'Wisdom” is the definitive account of Lawrence’s campaign.