44 



THE HOUSE AND ITS EQUIPMENT. 



hanging bookstacks on overhead runners which are 

 so marked a feature of the British Museum Library. 

 They do not, however, give any hints for the equip 

 ment of the library of an ordinary private house, and 

 need not, therefore, be discussed. Practically the 

 only recent innovation which need be mentioned is 

 the unit system of bookcases, by which they are built 

 up of sections of standard size, and are thus capable 

 of indefinite expansion. Though this American idea is 

 practical enough, so far no care has gone to the 

 design of the units or of the stock pattern cornices 

 which surmount them ; and though useful for offices, 

 they can hardly be regarded as pleasant features in a 

 library claiming any artistic merit. While the first 

 and most important point to be considered is the 

 practical necessity of housing books in a convenient 

 fashion, a library is a poor place if no aesthetic 

 judgment has gone to its equipment. 



In a bookcase designed by Sir Robert I.orimer 

 for Lympne Castle (Fig. CO) the cupboards which 

 form the lower section have been treated with linen- 

 fold panelling, which carries on the general Gothic 



tradi 

 tion 

 ofthe 

 Cas 

 tle, 

 while 

 i t i s 

 yet in 

 every 



63. HY WILLIAM KENT. 



64 BY HEPPLEWHITE. 



wav a 



practical place for books. An interesting type of wall 

 bookcase is that designed by Mr. Philip Webb for 

 Standen (Fig. 67). Though treated as a definite part 

 of the room, it is equally applicable to a free standing 

 bookcase. In order to accommodate the larger tomes, 

 the lower part has been brought forward in its middle 

 bay, which gives as well an interesting break in outline, 

 and provides a shelf space not only for the clock, but 

 also to receive a casual book. The tall bookcase 

 designed by Mr. Lutyens (Fig. 69) marks his affection 

 for treating glazed doors of furniture, as well as 

 windows, with the heavy sash-bars that we associate 

 chiefly with the architecture of William and Mary. 

 The lower cupboards are practically contrived. Their 

 doors are hinged at the bottom instead of at the 

 sides, and when opened are kept at the horizontal by 

 jointed arms. They serve thus as shelves on which 

 books and papers may be laid temporarily, instead of 

 on the floor. 



From, the first half of the eighteenth century 

 onwards designers were much attached to the com 

 bination of bureau with bookcase. Most often the 

 bookcase was simply the width of the bureau and sat 

 upon it, but sometimes the middle compartment of a 

 long range of bookcase would be fitted as a bureau. 

 This is an obviously convenient arrangement, as the 

 writer is thus surrounded by his books. Among 

 modern variants of the old bureau with sloping hinged 

 front or with drawer front that opens down with 



