Between 1921 and 1924, miniature books were collected to fill the shelves of the library in Queen Mary's Dolls' House. Princess Marie Louise, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, worked with the writer E.V. Lucas and the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens to source nearly 600 tiny volumes. Some of these were manuscripts specially written by prominant British and Irish authors, but many were printed books published in the 18th and 19th centuries and donated to the Dolls' House. Only those approved by Lutyens were added to the miniature library, to ensure the correct scale was maintained. The important collection of printed material in the Dolls' House Library contains rare examples of miniature printing, along with specially commissioned miniaturised publications.

This miniature edition of the poems of Robert Burns is a copy of the first edition of 1786. The publisher, David Bryce of Glasgow, was a prolific producer of miniature books, which he made by photographing down full-size books.