Baku Museum of Miniature Books recognized by Guinness World Records as world’s largest miniature book collection

Baku, the stunning capital of Azerbaijan, the land of fires, is one of the best stops on a trip to Europe.

With a beautiful coastline, this unique city has so much to offer to travelers; from beaches and volcanoes to a cityscape where the tradition meets modernity.

Baku is also home to the world's first private Museum of Miniature Books, which is located in Icharishahar Historical and Architectural Reserve proudly holding the Guinness World Records title as the world's largest collection of miniature books since 2014.

The Baku Museum of Miniature Books was founded by Zarifa Salahova in 2002.

The main basis of the museum's exposition is the collection gathered by Zarifa Salahova, an avid collector of miniature books for almost 30 years - it is about more than 7,000 miniature books published in 83 countries. The museum fund has in total more than 6,000 editions.

The books presented in the museum enables to get to know the best examples of miniature books created in different countries and belonging to different periods.

Visitors of the museum can see old editions of the holy book of Islam, the Quran, prayer books of the 19th century, books about arts, tale books, books about cities and counties of the world etc.

The Museum also features "The History of England" book published in 1815 in London and a novel in verses "Evgeniy Onegin" published in 1837 in St Petersburg, at the time when the poet was still alive.

The museum collection surely contains miniature books published in Azerbaijan. Among the most interesting ones - micro-books having a size from 2 to 10 mm, as well as those with a size of 2x2 mm having a sheepskin cover and published in Tokyo and accompanied by their "own" reading magnifiers.

The rarest in the museum's exposition are 4 micro-books by "Toppan" Publishing House, Tokyo, Japan: 1 in 0.75×0.75 mm format and 3 in 2×2 mm format, as well as micro books from German publishers: 1 in 2.0×2.9 mm format (Leipzig) and 4 in the format of 3.5×3.5 mm (Munich).