Patent Folding Bookcase

A mahogany portable and adjustable Campaign Bookcase.

The four tiers of shelves can be both flat packed for travel and storage or can be reduced to a height of 3, 2 or 1 shelf if need be. There is a versatility to this Bookcase.

Each shelf is fixed to the end boards that separate them from the shelf below by pressed metal hinge fittings. The plate of these elaborate hinges sits on top of the edges of the shelf to be covered by the end boards of the shelf above, when they are unfolded to a form a right angle to their shelf. The plates have two pear shaped cut outs to receive two dome headed screws fitted to the bottom edge of the end boards. The screws slide backwards in the cutouts, and the end boards are then held in place by swing catches to their back.

The base, with its shaped feet joined by the bottom shelf, has a plate with cut outs to receive the end boards from the shelf above. The bookcase is finished off by sitting a simple cornice board on to the top shelf. Each shelf is stamped with 'Pat No. 25079/13'. Patents of this date are not easy to research but it may be American or New Zealand with the 13 referring to its year.

The bookcase must have had a very modern, utilitarian feel to it when first produced at the beginning of the 20th century. It is a piece of furniture that was easy to make, with little decoration barring the simple moulded front edges and the shaped feet, the pieces are just boards which are joined by a clever pressed metal fitting. The bookcase was quick to manufacture and versatile in the height it could be made to. The flat sides, including to the cornice top board, suggests that a number of bookcases could be sat side by side to increase the width. They were probably intended to be used in a modular form, much like the Globe Wernicke bookcases with the size adaptable to the space. The practicality still holds true today and it's a useful bookcase with a clever design. Circa 1915.