Thumb Bibles

Thumb Bibles are not necessarily complete Bibles. Some are just “New Testaments.” Others are epitomes of Bible stories or contain the whole history of the Bible condensed into about 7,000 words, and they were designed specifically to be read by children. They have such titles as The Bible in Miniature, The History of the Holy Bible, and The Child’s Bible.

How did the thumb Bible get its name? The obvious explanation is that such a Bible is little bigger than the top part of a human thumb. Yet the book Three Centuries of Thumb Bibles suggests that the term may have been coined following the visit to England of the famous American midget Charles Stratton, better known as General Tom Thumb. Backing up this claim is the fact that Tom Thumb visited England in 1844 and the term “thumb Bible” appears to have been used for the first time in London in 1849.

The smallest “New Testament” ever produced was by David Bryce, of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1895. It measures 3/4 [1.9 cm] by 5/8 inch [1.6 cm] and is only 5/16 inch [0.8 cm] thick! How was it possible to print this? “It is finely and clearly printed in photo-mechanical reduction,” explains Louis Bondy in Miniature Books. With photography in its infancy a hundred years ago, this was no small achievement.

David Bryce also printed a number of complete Thumb Bibles using the same method. For those who have difficulty reading the fine print, each Bible has a little magnifying glass tucked inside the cover binding. With this aid, reading is possible for those who persevere.