Bradbury, Robert C. Miniature books published by Achille J. St. Onge. St. Onge Collections, number 5. 1995.

Bradbury, Robert C.  (compiler). Miniature books published by Achille J. St. Onge.  St. Onge Collections, number 5. 1995.  38 unnumbered pages.  9 point Palatino type. Included are 46 books plus variant editions. Descriptions of each book were provided by Rabbi Levitan. In 1987, Monsignor Francis J. Weber wrote that he located only 10 complete sets of these miniature books. Robert E. Massmann recently said he knew of 13 complete sets. From Kalman L. Levitan's own collection with his ex-libris, book number '3502'. Provenance: from Kalman Levitan's personal miniature book collection, dispersed in 1977, with his exlibris bookplate and inscribed in his hand. 65 x 75 mm. Original black morocco with gilt blocked titling.  Number one in the series of St. Onge Collections was the collection of The Robert H. Goddard  Library, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts. Number three in the same series was Charlotte M. Smith's complete collection, now at the University of Iowa. This is the fifth in the series but I cannot track down the others (numbers two, four and any after five). There only appear to be a single copy of numbers one and three. It is very likely that this copy is also one of a print run of one.  WorldCat locates zero copies worldwide.

Kalman L. Levitan spent 30 years active duty in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force, retiring with the rank of Colonel. He was a member of the Department of Defense Armed Forces Chaplains Board and served nine years as Senior Jewish Chaplain as advisor on Jewish activities to the Chief of Air Force Chaplains. He was Founder and first Chairman of the Miniature Book Society of America. He was an active teacher of Judaism. He received his BA from Yeshiva University, Master of Hebrew Letters from the Jewish Institute of Religion and Doctor of Divinity from Hebrew Union College. He did graduate study at Harvard Law School and Columbia University. In addition he published his own miniature books and wrote and edited volumes about miniature books. In 1983 he was instrumental in bringing together the collectors and publishers from around the United States that eventually formed the basis for the Miniature Book Society. Elected the Society’s first “Chairman” he helped draft bylaws and began an informal newletters. As a child, Rabbi Levitan’s father gave him a pocket-sized Hebrew prayer book printed in Warsaw in 1903. That was the beginning of a 2,000 volume collection that David Bromer (Bromer Booksellers, Boston) said was considered one of the most important collections. It spanned five centuries and included many rare and precious volumes.

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