This blog has never paid a visit to Azerbaijan (say that twenty times fast) but I’m guessing not many people go there. First of all, where is it? And how do you pronounce it? Oh, and do they have a Starbucks?
Between Turkey and the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan is a smallish country which just happens to have a museum dedicated to teeny tiny books. If you ever find yourself in the old city of Baku, stop by Zarifa Salahova’s gigantic collection of miniature edition books. The museum, the only place of its kind in the world, has nearly seven thousand small hard covers, from sixty-four countries, written in several languages. There are fifteen sections divided into twenty-five display cases; there are exhibits dedicated just to Azerbaijani authors and the Soviet era, including one all about Alexander Pushkin. The oldest book in the collection is a miniature copy of the Koran, dating back to the 1600s, and the smallest (6mm x 9mm) is “The Most Miraculous Thing,” which can only be read by magnifying glass and a lot of patience.
