Created between 1921 and 1924, Queen Mary's Dolls' House is one of the most beautiful and famous dolls' houses in the world. The structure was designed by British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens and features the craftsmanship of over one thousand artists. The house was meticulously furnished, meant to serve as a representation of a real royal residence, including bedroom chambers, saloon and dining rooms, a fully stocked wine cellar, functional kitchen, garage, and garden. The house even features electricity, running water, and working elevators. But perhaps most impressive of all is the house's spellbinding library, running the full length of the ground floor. Lining the walls of this tiny Edwardian library are over 300 miniature books and dozens of original paintings. The remarkable miniature collection features works specially produced by some of the finest authors of the 1920s. This selection was curated by the Princess Marie Louise and the author E.V. Lucas, who contacted hundreds of renowned authors to solicit original works. From poetry by Thomas Hardy to stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, gardening books to atlases, stamp albums to train timetables, these works represent British aristocratic life and the best examples of art and literature of the time. This lavishly illustrated volume is accompanied by a foreword by Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall, making this volume the premiere guidebook to the crown's miniature royal residence.

“An extraordinary story . . . of a fashionable creature who flits in and out of fairy tales and historical epochs . . Exquisite.” —The Wall Street Journal A Note of Explanation is a previously unknown work by iconic writer Vita Sackville-West. Written in 1922, it was recently rediscovered as a miniature book in Queen Mary’s dollhouse in Windsor Castle. Witty and stylish, the story recounts the antics of a time-traveling sprite who inhabits the dollhouse. This illustrated e-book edition presents the story for the first time since 1924. Lovers of literature and history will rejoice in this irresistible one-of-a-kind e-book.

Features items made just for The Queen, from carpets and curtains which were made of the same material as in the castle, to special books writte n by authors such as Rudyard Kipling, which were then bound in scale size!

When a dolls house has been designed by the most famous architect of his time, filled with specially commissioned objects of the very best contemporary domestic, industrial and artistic design, and presented to a queen for her personal pleasure, then surely a detailed study of it is justified. It is that story, with the remarkable photographic record of the house and its contents which accompanies it, which this book tells. The house was presented to Queen Mary in 1924 as a gesture of goodwill from the artists, craftsmen and authors most prominent at the time. It is not only a royal treasure; it shows in miniature a detailed picture of a domestic interior, and of an established way of life, in the period after World War I - and of course, unlike virtually every full-sized example of the kind, it remains entirely unmodernised. The craftsmanship visible in the contents of the forty rooms and vestibules is unparalleled, and it is presented here in David Cripps's photographs to capture an English period scene of incomparable charm.

A “comprehensive and enjoyable” guide to the centuries-long history of dolls’ houses and how they illuminate our past (Books Monthly). Dolls’ houses are tiny slices of social history that give us a fascinating glimpse into domestic life over the last three hundred years. Through text and photos, Nicola Lisle explores the origins and history of dolls’ houses and their furnishings, from the earliest known dolls’ house in sixteenth-century Bavaria to the present, and looks at how they reflect the architecture, fashions, social attitudes, innovations, and craftsmanship of their day. She discusses the changing role of dolls’ houses and highlights significant events and people to give historical context, as well as taking a look at some of the leading dolls’ house manufacturers such as Silber & Fleming and Lines Brothers Ltd (later Triang). Included are numerous examples of interesting dolls’ houses, the stories behind them, and where to see them—including famous models such as Queen Mary’s spectacular 1920s dolls’ house at Windsor Castle. There is also a chapter on model towns and villages, which became popular in the twentieth century and also give us a window on the past by replicating real places or capturing scenes typical of a bygone era, plus advice for dolls’ house collectors, a detailed directory of places to visit, a timeline of dolls’ house history, and recommended further reading.

From the Star-Spangled Banner flag to Dorothy's Ruby Slippers, the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History is home to some fascinating objects. In fact, one of the most fascinating of these, and one of the most popular, is itself a home. On the museum's third floor sits a five-story dollhouse donated to the museum by Faith Bradford, a Washington D.C. librarian, who spent more than a half-century accumulating and constructing the 1,354 miniatures that fill its 23 intricately detailed rooms. When Bradford donated them to the museum in 1951, she wrote a lengthy manuscript describing the lives of its residents: Mr. and Mrs. Peter Doll and their ten children, two visiting grandparents, twenty pets, and household staff. Bradford cataloged the Dolls' tastes, habits, and preferences in neatly typed household inventories, which she then bound, along with photographs and fabric samples, in a scrapbook. She even sent museum curators holiday cards written by the Dolls. In America's Doll House, Smithsonian Institution curator William L. Bird, Jr. weaves this visual material and back-story into the rich tapestry of Faith Bradford's miniature world. Featuring vibrant photography that brings every narrative detail to life, America's Doll House is both an incisive portrait of a sentimental pastime and a celebration of Bradford's remarkable and painstaking accomplishment.