Vita Sackville-West (1892–1962)

Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein (1872 – 1956) was the inspiration behind the creation in the 1920s of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House. She was also its librarian writing to noted authors requesting that they produce a small manuscript to be specially bound, given one of Queen Mary’s miniature bookplates (designed by E. H. Shepard, who illustrated Winnie-the-Pooh) and shelved in the library.

Some authors reproduced extracts from earlier works in miniature while other authors produced an entirely new work often inspired by the exquisite and whimsical concept of the Dolls’ House itself. Vita Sackville-West’s small work A Note of Explanation was of the latter category being new, original, and amusing.

The early readers of these books can have been very few. Now the Royal Collection is occasionally issuing choice selections from the collection either in facsimile or, as in this case, with an entirely new production. This edition has luxury paper, a pretty binding, lovely endpapers and wonderful illustrations by Kate Baylay.

The Dolls’ House is famously empty of dolls. However, in her story Vita Sackville-West gives the Dolls’ House an occupant, a magical sprite who has witnessed many fairy tales; she knew Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, the Princess and her Pea, Jack (of the Beanstalk) and, rather unfortunately, Bluebeard. She found Scheherazade ‘long-winded and a bore’.

The nameless sprite – rather like Goldilocks – tries everything in the Dolls’ House; from grand and pedestrian beds, the lift, and the bathrooms that make Aladdin’s palace look rather poor. But she is a lazy sprite and leaves a trail of disorder behind her perplexing the architect and the Queen herself. The identity of this invisible disruptor, Sackville-West writes teasingly, can only be found in a little book in the library, bringing her tale to its circular conclusion. Now we can all learn of her identity and see just how stylish she was thanks to Kate Baylay’s attractive and ingenious illustrations.

This is the end of a little review of a little book from the library of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House.… (more)