It is our unquenchable thirst for knowledge that transforms us into voracious readers, avid book lovers and pious worshippers of literature. Each of us has a mind that houses a personal library brimming with classics, fiction, sci-fi, philosophical and general knowledge books that have accumulated from our first education until it encompassed an entire lifetime of information and ideas. Some people are not fond of actual books but there are a remarkable number of people who are obsessed with them. Included in the latter group is the genuine collectors, the brilliant literati, the simple fanatics and of course, the pretentious few who gather books to display in their living rooms so that they will appear educated and well-read to others. If you happen to identify yourself from any of these kinds of book collectors, then you would definitely be interested in the purchase of a high quality bookcase.
Being a lover of the written art is relatively a gateway to a great appreciation of the visual arts. All kinds of artistry hover in a vast contained realm that is interconnected with each other. When people first discovered the ancient books and they learned to appreciate its value, they sought for ways on how to store them, just like how they kept the treasures that they considered indispensable in their lives. There was a time when books were not readily available to the peasants and the commoners, only to the affluent, royal members of society and the higher constituents of the church. These fortunate people were the ones who devised the storage spaces for the precious books in their possession. They even commissioned talented furniture designers to create highly decorative bookcases for their collections. The earliest prototypes that we consider antique bookcases today were made from wood and they were similar to armoires and trunk luggage chests that can transported from one place to another. These bookcases were created during the 16th century because the royal families traveled to and fro in their various estates and they required movable furniture pieces to lodge in their carriages.
Antique bookcases were developed when the furniture industry was at its height of prosperity during the 18th century in England. They were no longer treated as just storage spaces for the books and instead, they were made into handsome and exquisite pieces of furniture that were meant to be showcased in residential buildings. There were various designs of bookcases that came out and the earliest ones were called barrister bookcases. These types of bookcases were made of wood such as oak, mahogany, rosewood, cherry, walnut etc. The distinguishable quality of these pieces of furniture is that they were made of several pieces of enclosed shelves stacked on top of each other. What is remarkable about them is that they were separate horizontal pieces that can each be carried from one place to another. They formed a tall piece of furniture when they were combined but as an individual element, they resemble luggage bags with handles that can be transported. Due to their detachable attribute, the cover lid, instead of being hinged on the sides, as what we are familiar with when it comes to conventional cabinets, the hinges appeared on the top portion and they can be opened from the bottom. The opening basically resembled an awning window with the lock at the lower portion. They were made of glass framed with wood material similar to the body of the furniture. However, reproduction of this style of antique bookcase was made as just one piece of furniture instead of several pieces of stacked horizontal shelves. They still replicated the awning mechanism when it came to the cabinet door opening.
There are other remarkable designs of bookcases that are too grand and elaborate in detail to be left out. They are the massive and highly decorative breakfront bookcases. The design got its name because the front portion of this full-length bookcase is separated into two parts, the bookshelves on top and the cabinets below. They were divided by a protruding design, somewhat like a cornice or a small horizontal piece of carved wood that demarcated the boundary. The breakfront bookcase has a top portion made of shelves and enclosed in transparent glass so that people can admire the contents of the cabinet. The bottom portion was fully enclosed with wood cabinet faces that could be locked to keep valuable items that were not necessarily suitable for display. Some of the finest pieces of wood were used and the most skilled craftsmen during that time were employed to work on the fascinating details of the carvings, base and top moldings, turning of the vertical supports and the finishing of the natural solid wood materials that were used. Thomas Chippendale of the Middle Georgian period designed most of the bookcases with intricate details and distinct architectural motifs such as fretworks, broken pediments, pagodas and lozenges. Ordinary carpenters followed suit and eventually bookcases were regarded as ornamental pieces of furniture.
Another type of antique bookcase with breathtaking charm and exquisite characteristics is the bureau bookcase. It has combined functionality and design with a bookshelf on top and a desk below. You can store your books on the top portion and you can write letters on the drop leaf surface at the bottom which makes the experience of studying or learning a lot more enjoyable and very convenient. Below the writing desk are drawers where important files can be stored. Most of the designs of the bookshelf at the upper portion are made with wood cabinet faces but there are some with framed glass doors similar to the breakfront bookcases. They were lighter in appearance and some have a more feminine silhouette with emphasis on the choice of wood and the carvings and moldings that were displayed. The knobs and pulls were decorative metallic designs that have rosettes and circles on them. The molding at the top were shaped into elaborate arches and broken pediments. Some of the designs were made by prominent designers such as Adam, Sheraton and Hepplewhite. They contributed their talent in the creation of timeless bookcase designs that continue to be revered up until today.
The dwarf bookcases were the smallest type of ancient bookcases with functions that can be compared with console and occasional tables wherein they were placed in strategic locations in the homes. They were low cabinets, almost reaching mid-length of the walls and the top portions were made in metallic or natural stoned topped surfaces made of expensive marble. The designs are focused on the moldings on the top portion and the feet which are carved into balls, animal paws and architectural fluting. There are unique revolving bookcases that can store more books and you can have the convenience of rotating them and finding the side where your favorite book is placed. These dwarf bookcases are decorative pieces of storage furniture that aside from storing books can also display ornamental items, bottles of liquor and fancy figurines.