Bookshelves Are Cool
What defines a bookshelf? Is it purely a piece of furniture that stores books, or has the definition expanded past its meaning to include new uses, locations and types? We’re leaning towards the second definition. Now, with our hidden door bookshelf being sold all over the country we thought it would be a good time to go into the history, and modern day use of bookshelves, as the bookshelf has experienced developments over time.
History of Bookshelves
Some of the earliest libraries that have been uncovered through history are private libraries that were built during the late Roman Republic. However, later types of bookcases have been discovered in China. Fu Xi, has been credited with building a revolving bookcase in 544 that housed Chinese texts. These bookcases were written about by Chinese historians, and pictures were drawn in an old architectural text.
A unique fact about bookcases is that they were not always in homes. Early on, manuscripts were kept in boxes or small chests that people could carry with them, and then as more and more texts were accumulated, cupboards were finally built to house them. This is where the modern day bookshelf that we know originated from.
It wasn’t until the invention of the printing press that owning books became a thing for more than the highest classes and religious clergy. Years after the invention of the printing press it became practice to write the title on the spine of the books, and put books on shelves, with the spine facing out. Thus taking what was once a shelf, and making it a bookshelf.
Innovation in Bookshelves
The intriguing thing is how the use of the bookshelf has shifted now. Books are still held on them, but more and more creative sites are citing new ways to use bookshelf space, and new types of bookshelves to make (one site even claimed a hidden door bookshelf is a good idea, we agreed with them). We think that the bookshelf has transcended its use in libraries to become an icon we have in our homes, a space saving solution, and something everyone owns even if they don’t read!
So our hidden door bookshelf may still be a bookshelf, but you don’t have to read to own one, that’s all in the history books.
