Miniature books can be worth thousands of pounds and are very collectable. According to book specialist Mr Fonsie Mealy of Mealy's auctioneers in Castlecomer: "I was offered one by a priest the other day, a little bible." But Mr Mealy estimated its value at only about £20 (€25.4) for the disappointed priest.

However, books can fetch a small fortune. A rare 12 mm x 9 mm Bloem-Hofge miniature book published in 1674 was estimated at $6,000-$9,000 (€6,083-€9,124) at a New York auction in 1990: it actually went for $24,000. At the same sale, a two-volume set of the Infant's Cabinet of Fruits and Roots, published in London 1802, fetched $28,000. Miniature books "do crop up in Ireland but seldom. They are very collectable," says Mr Mealy. They are more likely to be valuable if they are attractive or illustrated.

If a book was printed in the late 19th or early 20th centuries, it might not be very valuable without a fine binding or unless somebody important signed it.

"But condition again is very important." Children's miniature books tend to be "blackguarded" if they played with them. According to Mr Mark Ghahramani, a specialist at Christie's, miniature books can be worth "from a few hundred to thousands" of pounds.

In a Christie's auction of miniature books in London on March 10th next, items are valued from £300 (€484) to £5,000 sterling (€8,066), with the total sale expected to realise in excess of £200,000.

Miniature almanacs and religious books from the late 17th or early 18th centuries can be "very valuable," says Mr Ghahramani. But when it comes to the 19th century, there are a lot of miniature religious books, including bibles. "Unless they're of a specific type, they're not of enormous value. As printing techniques progressed - the later they are, the more the value is affected purely because printing techniques had increased so drastically. They were printed in much larger quantities."

Part of the attraction of miniature books is that they were seen as a "sign of technological progress" Mr Ghahramani explains. "People like to collect them because they like small miniature things, basically. Also in some ways, in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, for practical use: you could slip them in your pocket and carry them around. They were a sign of wealth as well because they were very expensive."

He says any book less than three inches in height is considered to be a miniature book, although "near miniatures" are just over that size. In the forthcoming auction, a 1732 Jewish prayer book written in Spanish is expected to fetch £2,000-£3,000. The smallest book in the sale, a bible measuring 5 mm x 5 mm, is estimated at £500-£800.

A Book of Hours prayer book circa 1470 from Florence is estimated at £5,000 to £8,000, while 18th century red Morocco French almanacs range in value from £400 up to £1,000 each.

An illustrated children's miniature book, My Tiny Alphabet Book, from the 1920s, is expected to go for £300-£400, while group lots of recent Hungarian books from the 1960s and 1970s are estimated at £200-£300. A 1928 atlas measuring 42 mm x 33 mm with 12 double-page coloured maps inscribed "the smallest miniature atlas in existence" should fetch £300-£400.

www.christies.com Miniature Books Society website: www.mbs.org. jmarms@irish-times.ie