This book is part of the Modern-Day Miniature Library, a contemporary collection of miniature handwritten and hand-bound books that has been assembled to celebrate 100 years since Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House was completed in 1924.

Of the nearly 600 books placed on the shelves of the Dolls' House Library in the 1920s, over 170 are tiny manuscripts handwritten by the most notable authors of the time. Together, these create a time capsule of literary culture.

Echoing the process of a century ago, today's writers were again asked to write by hand in miniature format. Their little pages were bound by leading contemporary designer-binders. After being displayed in an exhibition at Windsor Castle during 2024, the new collection of doll-size books will be kept together in the Royal Library.

Alan Bennett's passage on ‘The Mantelpiece’ is taken from a published play, Enjoy, put on at the Vaudeville in 1980 and revived in 2009. The excerpt about the little items that we collect over time is followed by an autobiographical sketch of Bennett as a 10-year-old boy spending time at his grandmother’s house. The tiny manuscript has been bound by Andreas Maroulis of the Royal Bindery.