Her Majesty The Queen has contributed her own miniature book to the collection, a handwritten introduction to the project. Bound in the Royal Bindery at Windsor Castle, the book features a gold-tooled miniature version of Her Majesty’s cypher measuring 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.
Glenn Bartley, Head of the Royal Bindery, Royal Collection Trust, said: "The art and craft of hand bookbinding has changed hugely in the past 100 years. The familiar, traditional style of the bindings made for the original Dolls’ House could not be more different to the contemporary designs of today, which demonstrate individual creativity and make great use of alternative materials."
The contributors to the Modern-Day Miniature Library are:
- Her Majesty The Queen, Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House: foreword, bound by Glenn Bartley, Royal Bindery, Windsor Castle
- Simon Armitage, There was a steep grass bank then a field, bound by Matthew Stockl, Royal Bindery, Windsor Castle
- Alan Bennett, The Mantelpiece, bound by Andreas Maroulis, Royal Bindery, Windsor Castle
- Malorie Blackman, A Message to Jessica, bound by Bayntun-Riviere. Illustrations by Elizabeth Mira Morrison
- Lucy Caldwell, Intimacies, bound by Gillian Stewart, Juju Books. Illustrations by Orla Routh (age 5 ¾)
- Joseph Coelho, An Abecedarius of the Very Teeny: and other poems, bound by Matthew Stockl, Royal Bindery, Windsor Castle
- Imtiaz Dharker, The Welcome, bound by Flora Ginn
- Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, The Gruffalo, bound by Glenn Bartley, Royal Bindery, Windsor Castle.
- Bernardine Evaristo, The African Origins of the United Kingdom, bound by Sue Doggett
- Sebastian Faulks, Music for a Dolls’ House, 1924–2024, bound by Shepherds, Sangorski & Sutcliffe
- Philippa Gregory, Richard my Richard: a play, bound by Stuart Brockman, Brockman Bookbinders
- Robert Hardman, The Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, 6.V.2023, bound by Ted Bennett. Illustrations by Phoebe Hardman (age 14)
- Anthony Horowitz, A Tiny Ghost Story, bound by Angela James
- Charlie Mackesy, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, bound by Hannah Brown
- Sir Ben Okri, Poems, bound by Rachel Ward-Sale, Bookbinders of Lewes
- Tom Parker Bowles, A Recipe Fit for a Queen, bound by Andreas Maroulis, Royal Bindery, Windsor Castle
- Elif Shafak, Aisha woke up from troubled dreams, bound by Haein Song
- Sir Tom Stoppard, Kolya’s Glove, bound by Lester Capon
- Sarah Waters, Underhand House: part one, bound by Christopher Shaw
- A. N. Wilson, The Residents: a poem, bound by Peter Jones
- Dame Jacqueline Wilson, The House Mouse / translated from Mouse Squeaks, bound by Eri Funazaki
Sebastian Faulks said: "The size made it a real challenge. But fun. I’m not a poet and there was no room for prose, so I wrote a kind of syllabic verse. My handwriting has not been under such pressure since infant school. I can only apologise for my illustrations. It was such an honour to have been invited to contribute."
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.
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. A full interview with the author will appear in the spring issue of Fine Books.
