At Windsor Castle, a unique architectural wonder is not a structural part of the building itself, or even part of its full size. Here you will find Queen Mary’s Dollhousewidely considered the largest and most famous in the world. Designed by architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, the house was built between 1921 and 1924 and contains objects and furnishings conceived by hundreds of leading craftsmen and craftsmen of the time.
Queen Mary, consort of King George V between 1910 and 1936, was a lover of all things miniature. Her dollhouse even contains scale versions of almost 600 real books his libraryincluding works by literary giants such as AA Milne and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Commissioned by publishers in the UK and abroad, many of these books are also in the collections of the V&A, where they have been on long-term loan since 1916.
A recent video produced by the museum showcases some of these little treasures under the expert guidance of National Art Library Assistant Librarian Amy McMullan and Catherine Yvard, curator of the National Art Library Collections. Examples include a red leather-bound Bible published in 1896 by David Bryce & Son of Glasgow, alongside a Quran, a collection of poems by Robert Burns and more.
The National Art Library is housed in the V&A, and more than a million publications relating to art, design and performance form an archive spanning the 8th century to the present day.
In addition to Queen Mary’s collection, the museum’s holdings include many more miniature books. Small almanacs in their decorated folios were published annually and contained notable dates such as sunrise and sunset times, holidays and other practical information. Many of the titles have gilded edges, marbled paper and even metal cases that double as lockets so they can be worn.
The collection includes small dictionaries, a souvenir from the Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park and children’s books, including some tunnel booksor paper peep shows. These accordion-style books look like any other publication at first glance, but expand into long tunnels through which viewers can admire a layered, dimensional scene.
The oldest object in the V&A collection is a silver-bound miniature prayer book from the early 18th century, in French, decorated with the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli. And the smallest is aptly named The smallest book in the world, published in 2002 and measures 2.4 by 2.9 millimeters. It was designed by a German typographer and is so small that it comes with a small booklet that shows what you would see if you could leaf through the book. As McMullen explains, the book’s physical size raises an interesting question: “Is it really a book if you can’t read it?”
Visitors are welcome to get acquainted with the online catalogue and personally interact with items from the collection in the reading rooms of the V&A East Storehouse. Discover more about the museum YouTube channel.
