The Miniature Library of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House

Throughout 2024, Royal Collection Trust will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House at Windsor Castle, the largest and most famous dolls’ house in the world. This book has been published to celebrate this event. 

Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House is one of the most beautiful and famous dolls’ houses in the world. Running the full length of its ground floor is a spellbinding library, filled with nearly 600 miniature books and hundreds of original works of art. Lining the bookshelves of this miniature library are specially produced manuscripts by some of the finest authors of the 1920s. From poetry by Thomas Hardy to a story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, from gardening books to atlases, and from miniature stamp albums to accurate train timetables, these works represent the best examples of British and Irish art and literature of the time.

This book presents the fascinating history of the Dolls’ House Library, including correspondence between its organisers, Princess Marie Louise, the House’s architect Sir Edwin Lutyens and the authors they commissioned; a collection of selected works reproduced for the first time since 1924 and lavish illustrations that capture the charming detail of this delightful little room.

About the Author: Elizabeth Clark Ashby is Curator of Books and Manuscripts, Royal Collection Trust

160 pages.

Hardback.

ISBN 978-1-909741-57-7