The printing press and the development of books
It was not until the development of the movable type printing press in the middle of the 15th Century that books started to come into widespread use in Europe. Prior to this, books were mainly handwritten on parchment although some had been printed using fixed ‘pages’ of print carved from wood. While books were rare and expensive, they did not appear in large numbers and so tended to be kept in individual book cases.
When books became available in greater numbers, libraries were no longer such rare entities and it became necessary to create some form of storage system for these new books. Bookcases became bookshelves and, given that books were still highly prized and valuable items, the new bookshelves were made of the best material available – oak. Some of the oldest oak bookcases in the UK are in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University and date back to the late 1500s.
The Breakfront oak bookcase
Oak is undoubtedly an attractive timber but even a solid line of oak bookcases can lose its appeal and various methods have been tried to add some variety to the appearance of long uniform lines of shelves. One of the most notable is the breakfront style, which has been used on various large items of furniture including oak bookcases. Breakfront means the centre section of the piece of furniture, in this instance a bookcase, stands proud of the remainder. This break in the line makes the whole item more varied and interesting.
Oak has consistently remained a prime choice of timber for quality furniture in Britain and even survived the immensely popular introduction of mahogany furniture during the 18th Century. Its popularity did suffer some decline during the latter part of the 20th Century, partly because it became associated with dark drab interiors and partly because the massive decline in oak timber stocks in the UK made it too expensive to be considered by most people.
However, during the 1980s oak recovered its popularity once again thanks to new supplies being sourced overseas, from North America, China and the Far East and a ‘rediscovery’ of the more natural light-coloured oak finishes. Despite the rise of electronic media and entertainment, figures suggest that books remain popular so the need for bookcases continues.
Invention of the paperback
Of course the early bookcases had to support large heavy volumes several inches thick and bound with leather or even wooden covers. In more recent times hardback books have reduced in weight and size and weight has been reduced even further with the invention of the modern-day paperback book in the 1930s. That said, paper is still a heavy material – as anyone who has lifted a box of books will realise.
Bookcases that do not have some form of reinforcement such as a system of bracing, or the incorporation of a solid back to the cabinet, are prone to collapsing when subject to any weight of books. A fully assembled oak bookcase, made of solid oak and fitted with a robust cabinet back is a strong piece of furniture and can support a full load of books without difficulty. It is often a false economy to buy low cost self-assembly bookcases as, unless they are reinforced, they are unlikely to last as long or look as good as the same item made of solid oak.
At Right Price Furniture our selection of oak bookcases includes units that incorporate drawers, and some with glazed doors.