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Bookend
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{{Short description|Object used to support a row of books}} {{about|the physical object|other uses|Bookend (disambiguation)|the Simon & Garfunkel album|Bookends (album)|the company|Bookstop (company)}} {{Refimprove|date=March 2014}} [[File:Serre-livres, art-déco, par le sculpteur René van Dievoet (1908-1978), août 1944.jpg|thumb|Bookend [[Art Deco]] by sculptor [[René van Dievoet]].]] [[File:2Busts.JPG|thumb|right|Two busts used as bookends]] [[File:Black metal bookend.jpg|thumb|upright|A simple sheetmetal bookend]] A '''bookend''' is an object tall, sturdy, and heavy enough that is placed at either end of a row of upright [[book]]s to support or [[buttress]] them. Heavy bookends—made of [[wood]], [[bronze]], [[marble]], and even large [[geode]]s—have been used in libraries, stores, and homes for centuries; the simple sheetmetal bookend (originally patented in 1877 by William Stebbins Barnard)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US186974A/en|title=Improvement in book-supports}}</ref> uses the weight of the books standing on its foot to clamp the bookend's tall brace against the last book's back; in libraries, simple metal brackets are often used to support the end of a row of books. Elaborate and decorative bookends are common as elements in [[home decor]]. Bookends are usually made of metal and plastic. The word "bookend" is also used metaphorically to refer to any pair of items which frame and define a significant or noteworthy event or place. For example, regarding the practice in the [[United States]] whereby [[Memorial Day]] and [[Labor Day]] demarcate the traditional beginning and end of [[summer]], those two [[holidays]] could be referred to as bookends. == See also == * [[Bookend terrace]], a bookend effect in the design of terraced houses. * [[Book nook]] ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== {{Wiktionary|bookend}} {{Commons category|Bookends}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120603221955/http://www.dimensionsguide.com/bookends-sizes/ Bookend sizes] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140208203516/http://www.justbookends.com/bookends/historyofbookendsarticle.cfm The History of Bookends] {{Books}} [[Category:Book terminology]]
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