Queen Mary's Doll's House Library
This year marks the 100th anniversary of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House, the largest and most famous Dolls’ House in the world, which has been on display for visitors to Windsor Castle since its creation.
The Dolls’ House was built between 1921 and 1924 as a gift from the nation to Queen Mary following the First World War. It is a perfect 1:12 scale replica of an Edwardian-style residence – complete with electricity, working lifts and running water – and is filled with contributions from over 1,500 of the finest artists, craftspeople, and manufacturers of the day.
Image: gallery view. Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2024. Image above: miniature books, studio 2. Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2024.
One of the great treasures of the Dolls’ House is its Library, which captured the literary culture of the 1920s through miniature books handwritten by the era’s foremost writers, from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Vita Sackville-West to A. A. Milne and Thomas Hardy. Now, in an anniversary initiative championed by Her Majesty The Queen, 20 tiny manuscripts have been penned and decorated by hand by leading writers and illustrators, to establish a Modern-Day Miniature Library, once again providing a snapshot of contemporary literature in Britain.
The new manuscripts range from short stories, poetry collections and illustrated tales to plays, articles and recipes, many inspired by the Dolls’ House or written specially for the occasion. Each manuscript, measuring just 4.5cm high, has been hand-bound with a unique cover by a leading designer-bookbinder. Each miniature cover is a work of art, with each binder taking inspiration from the contents of their book to create designs that range from gilded and traditional to whimsical and strikingly modern. The new books, which will become part of the Royal Collection, are now on display for visitors to Windsor Castle and can be seen throughout 2024.
Image: The Saloon in Queen Mary's Dolls House. Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2024.
Her Majesty The Queen has contributed her own miniature book to the collection: a handwritten introduction to the Modern-Day Miniature Library project. Bound in the Royal Bindery at Windsor Castle, the book features a gold-tooled miniature version of Her Majesty’s cypher, measuring just 7mm tall. It was created using a specially made cypher tool, which was modelled on the tool used to apply Queen Mary’s 7mm-tall cypher to the original Dolls’ House Library books in the 1920s.
Contributors to the Modern-Day Miniature Library include; Simon Armitage, There was a steep grass bank then a field, bound by Matthew Stockl, Royal Bindery, Windsor Castle; Malorie Blackman, A Message to Jessica, bound by Bayntun-Riviere. Illustrations by Elizabeth Mira Morrison; Philippa Gregory, Richard my Richard: a play, bound by Stuart Brockman, Brockman Bookbinders and Sir Ben Okri, Poems, bound by Rachel Ward-Sale, Bookbinders of Lewes.
Image: miniature books in Royal Library. Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2024.
As well as the display of miniature books, visitors to Windsor Castle this year can see a special centenary display of items usually contained within the Dolls’ House. Staged in the magnificent Waterloo Chamber, this display allows visitors to get even closer to the House’s tiny treasures, which range from a fully strung miniature grand piano and Crown Jewels inset with real diamonds to a miniscule vacuum cleaner and sewing machine.
The room at Windsor Castle that was created to house the Dolls’ House almost 100 years ago has been restored to mark the anniversary, and the Dolls’ House itself has been re-lit to simulate daylight rather than moonlight. On Royal Collection Trust’s website, new ‘dolls’-eye view’ films are giving viewers around the world the chance to discover the House’s miniature marvels in closer detail than ever before.
Image: Vacuum cleaner in Queen Mary's Dolls House. Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2024.
The new publication The Miniature Library of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House by Elizabeth Clark Ashby is available now, exploring the stories behind the creation of the original Dolls’ House Library. The book includes a foreword by Her Majesty The Queen, as well as excerpts from selected works, some of which are reproduced for the first time. The book joins a new Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House souvenir range that is available in Royal Collection Trust’s shops.
Find out more about Queen Mary's Doll House:
www.rct.uk/collection/themes/Trails/queen-marys-dolls-house
Find out more about Queen Mary's Doll House Library:
www.rct.uk/collection/themes/trails/queen-marys-dolls-house/library
The Dolls’ House was built between 1921 and 1924 as a gift from the nation to Queen Mary following the First World War. It is a perfect 1:12 scale replica of an Edwardian-style residence – complete with electricity, working lifts and running water – and is filled with contributions from over 1,500 of the finest artists, craftspeople, and manufacturers of the day.
Image: gallery view. Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2024. Image above: miniature books, studio 2. Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2024.
One of the great treasures of the Dolls’ House is its Library, which captured the literary culture of the 1920s through miniature books handwritten by the era’s foremost writers, from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Vita Sackville-West to A. A. Milne and Thomas Hardy. Now, in an anniversary initiative championed by Her Majesty The Queen, 20 tiny manuscripts have been penned and decorated by hand by leading writers and illustrators, to establish a Modern-Day Miniature Library, once again providing a snapshot of contemporary literature in Britain.
The new manuscripts range from short stories, poetry collections and illustrated tales to plays, articles and recipes, many inspired by the Dolls’ House or written specially for the occasion. Each manuscript, measuring just 4.5cm high, has been hand-bound with a unique cover by a leading designer-bookbinder. Each miniature cover is a work of art, with each binder taking inspiration from the contents of their book to create designs that range from gilded and traditional to whimsical and strikingly modern. The new books, which will become part of the Royal Collection, are now on display for visitors to Windsor Castle and can be seen throughout 2024.
Image: The Saloon in Queen Mary's Dolls House. Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2024.
Her Majesty The Queen has contributed her own miniature book to the collection: a handwritten introduction to the Modern-Day Miniature Library project. Bound in the Royal Bindery at Windsor Castle, the book features a gold-tooled miniature version of Her Majesty’s cypher, measuring just 7mm tall. It was created using a specially made cypher tool, which was modelled on the tool used to apply Queen Mary’s 7mm-tall cypher to the original Dolls’ House Library books in the 1920s.
Contributors to the Modern-Day Miniature Library include; Simon Armitage, There was a steep grass bank then a field, bound by Matthew Stockl, Royal Bindery, Windsor Castle; Malorie Blackman, A Message to Jessica, bound by Bayntun-Riviere. Illustrations by Elizabeth Mira Morrison; Philippa Gregory, Richard my Richard: a play, bound by Stuart Brockman, Brockman Bookbinders and Sir Ben Okri, Poems, bound by Rachel Ward-Sale, Bookbinders of Lewes.
Image: miniature books in Royal Library. Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2024.
As well as the display of miniature books, visitors to Windsor Castle this year can see a special centenary display of items usually contained within the Dolls’ House. Staged in the magnificent Waterloo Chamber, this display allows visitors to get even closer to the House’s tiny treasures, which range from a fully strung miniature grand piano and Crown Jewels inset with real diamonds to a miniscule vacuum cleaner and sewing machine.
The room at Windsor Castle that was created to house the Dolls’ House almost 100 years ago has been restored to mark the anniversary, and the Dolls’ House itself has been re-lit to simulate daylight rather than moonlight. On Royal Collection Trust’s website, new ‘dolls’-eye view’ films are giving viewers around the world the chance to discover the House’s miniature marvels in closer detail than ever before.
Image: Vacuum cleaner in Queen Mary's Dolls House. Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2024.
The new publication The Miniature Library of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House by Elizabeth Clark Ashby is available now, exploring the stories behind the creation of the original Dolls’ House Library. The book includes a foreword by Her Majesty The Queen, as well as excerpts from selected works, some of which are reproduced for the first time. The book joins a new Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House souvenir range that is available in Royal Collection Trust’s shops.
Find out more about Queen Mary's Doll House:
www.rct.uk/collection/themes/Trails/queen-marys-dolls-house
Find out more about Queen Mary's Doll House Library:
www.rct.uk/collection/themes/trails/queen-marys-dolls-house/library