Miniature Book Smaller Than A Pencil Lead Auctioned For Whopping $4,738

One of the world’s smallest books, measuring just 5 millimeters, was sold for a hefty price at an auction in Belgium. Initially valued between $1,128 and $1,692, the book sold for approximately $3,948 at the Arenberg Auctions in Brussels on Saturday. Additional cost rose the price paid to $4,738.

The 5mm by 5mm leather-bound book, titled "The Lord’s Prayer" contains the prayer in Dutch, English, American English, French, German, Spanish and Swedish, The Brussels Times reported.

According to Arenberg Auctions, the copy was one of the few hundred books published in 1952 by the Gutenberg Museum, in Mainz, Germany to fund building reconstruction initiatives after the second world war. The museum, named after printing pioneer Johannes Gutenberg, is one of the oldest museums of printing in the world.

"The printed text is so minuscule that you cannot read it with the naked eye but need a strong magnifying glass," the auctioneer, Henri Godts said to the Guardian.

Smaller than a pencil lead, the pages of the book contain entire sentences. It has been written using three different typographies, the Auction house said. The book comes in a small box and is accompanied by the original metal printing plates used to make it.

"The copy has been in a collection for dozens of years and is kept in a jewel box as if it were a gem. You could even incorporate it into a transparent jewel and wear it around your neck, if you so wish," Godts said to the Guardian.

A book called "Teeny Ted from Turnip Town" holds the Guinness World Record of being the smallest reproduction of a printed book. It measures 70 mm by 100 mm.

Miniature books have a long history and some consider the Sumerian clay tablets from 2500 BC to be the first miniature book. The form was made popular by Queen Mary of the United Kingdom in 1922 when she commissioned 200 miniature books for her famous dollhouse.

"In the United States, a miniature book is usually considered to be one which is no more than three inches in height, width, or thickness," the US-based Miniature Book Society said in a statement. The size varies from place to place.