Editing Bookcase (section)

== Barrister's bookcase ==
[[File:Globe Wernicke Sectional Bookcases, May 1913.jpg|thumb|Advertisement for barrister's bookcases, marketed here as "sectional bookcases", by [[Globe Wernicke]], 1913]]
A [[barrister]] requires the use of many law books and would formerly travel on [[circuit court|circuit]] with a judge's court. A specialised form of portable bookcase was developed to meet their needs. It consists of several separate shelf units that may be stacked together to form a cabinet. An additional plinth and hood complete the piece. When moving chambers, each shelf is carried separately without needing to remove its contents, and becomes a carrying-case full of books.<ref name=alexaidis>{{cite news |last1=Alexiadis |first1=Jane |title=What's it Worth? Barrister's bookcase |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2011/10/18/whats-it-worth-barristers-bookcase/ |work=The Mercury News |date=2011-10-18}}</ref>

They were, and are, also marketed as "extensible bookcases".<ref name=alexaidis/><ref name="PWM">{{cite web |last1=Huey |first1=Glen D. |title=Simple Barrister Bookcases |url=https://www.popularwoodworking.com/projects/simple_barrister_bookcases/ |website=Popular Woodworking Magazine |date=2011-05-25}}</ref>

To help retain the books when being carried, a barrister's bookcase has glazed doors. As the shelves must still separate, the usual hinged doors opening sideways cannot be used; instead there is an "up and over" mechanism on each shelf, like an overhead door. The better quality cases use a metal [[scissor mechanism]] inside the shelves to ensure that the ends of the doors move in parallel without skewing and jamming. Many of this style, exported worldwide, were made by the Skandia Furniture Co. of [[Rockford, Illinois]] around the beginning of the 20th century.<ref name="FWW, Barrister" >{{cite journal
 |title=How to Build a Barrister's Bookcase
 |last=Greef |first=Jeff
 |journal=[[Fine Woodworking]]
 |date=September–October 1992
 |pages=51–55
}}</ref>

This style of bookcase was either made in the [[Dickens]]ian period, or harkens back to the style of such times, so they are most commonly glazed with a [[leaded light]] and small panes of glass.{{citation needed|reason=sources do not show this|date=June 2021}}

Each shelf of a true barrister's bookcase must be portable with a heavy load of books. The more robust examples have folding handles at the ends of each shelf. Modern "decorator" copies of these may ''look'' the same, but are often too lightly constructed to be carried whilst loaded, or may even be simply a single fixed case like a normal bookcase, but with separate doors to each shelf to give the appearance of a barrister's bookcase.

=== Thomas Jefferson's book boxes ===
Similar to the Barrister's bookcase is [[Thomas Jefferson]]'s book boxes. When the British burned down the capitol in 1814, Congress went into negotiations with Thomas Jefferson to purchase his personal library of about 6,700 books. The book collection would be the foundation of the [[Library of Congress]], and it had its own specially designed shelves designed to help transport the books with ease from Thomas Jefferson's home at Monticello.

The book boxes or ("book presses" as they are sometimes called) were made of pine with backs and shelves, but no fronts. They were designed to be three-tiered, stacked on top of each other. When fully assembled, the boxes stood about 9 feet high. Each shelf had a different depth, however, ranging from 13 inches to 5.75 inches deep. The shelves had about ¾ inch on the front where boards could be nailed on for transportation.<ref>Schwarz, C. (March 18, 2020). [https://www.popularwoodworking.com/projects/monticello%E2%80%99s-stacking-bookcases/ Monticello's stacking bookcases: Thomas Jefferson's book boxes became the foundation of the Library of Congress]. ''Popular Woodworking''.</ref> Scrap paper was used to stuff between the books as a way of protecting them during their journey. When it was time to transport the books, the individual shelves could be removed then reassembled once they made it to their final location.

There is no documentation that Thomas Jefferson actually designed them himself, but the amount of detail that went into their construction suggests that they were his idea. There are no surviving original book boxes, but officials at Monticello were able to recreate six of these bookcases in 1959.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Book Boxes|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/book-boxes|access-date=2020-11-28|website=www.monticello.org|language=en}}</ref> This was achieved through experts compiling all written evidence of the book boxes as well as taking measurements of the remaining volumes from the Jefferson Library at the Library of Congress.