Editing Writing table (section)

{{Distinguish|Desk}}
[[File:Bureau Marie-Antoinette Riesener Versailles.jpg|thumb|Writing table of [[Marie-Antoinette]] by [[Jean Henri Riesener|Riesener]] (1783), [[Petit appartement de la reine]], [[Palace of Versailles]].|299x299px]]
A '''writing table''' (French ''bureau plat'') has a series of drawers directly under the surface of the table, to contain writing implements, so that it may serve as a [[desk]]. Antique versions have the usual divisions for the [[inkwell]], the [[blotting paper|blotter]] and the sand or powder tray in one of the drawers, and a surface covered with [[leather]] or some other material less hostile to the [[quill]] or the [[fountain pen]] than simple hard wood.

In form, a writing table is a [[pedestal desk]] without the pedestals, having legs instead to hold it up. This is why such tables are sometimes called leg desks.

The writing table is often called a "bureau plat" when it is done in a French style such as [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]], [[Art Nouveau]], etc. When a writing table is supported by two legs instead of four, it is usually called a [[trestle desk]].

The writing table is also sometimes called a library table, because it was often placed in a home library. This was the room in a house where a gentleman would keep literature and also do his business transactions. The library often housed, in addition, a round desk called a [[rent table]] and sometimes a [[drawing table]]. The term library table is sometimes applied indiscriminately to a wide variety of desk forms, in addition to being used for writing tables.

Some writing tables have additional drawers built above the surface. In this case they are often called [[bureau à gradin]] instead of writing table, unless they have a more specific form, such as that of a [[Carlton House desk]].

A '''reading and writing table''' with an easel or double easel for books that was adjustable on a [[ratchet (device)|ratchet]] and a drawer fitted for writing implements was a mid-18th century English invention<ref>Design XXIV in [[Ince and Mayhew]]'s ''Universal System of Household Furniture'', London, 1759-62, noted in [[John Gloag]], ''A Short Dictionary of Furniture, rev. ed, 1969, ''s.v.'' "Reading Tables".</ref> that lasted as long as the habit endured of reading while standing.

The writing tables are good for maintaining posture and help readers or writers to work longer, nowadays writing tables evolved into desk with desktop systems and other smart devices according to one's need.