32 
HOUSE & GARDEN 
If one leans toward 
natural finished wood, 
panelling of oak, fumed 
chestnut, butternut, 
gum or sundry other 
woods may be appro¬ 
priately employed. If 
light walls or light 
woodwork and panel¬ 
ling make a stronger 
appeal, they are equal¬ 
ly suitable. It may be 
suggested, however, 
that unless abundant 
light poui's in through 
ample sized windows, it 
will be best to have 
light walls and wood¬ 
work and so make up 
as far as possible for 
the natural deficiency, 
for book backs en 
masse are apt to as¬ 
sume a somber tone. 
Books as Decorative 
Units 
Bookcases or shelves, 
either built-in or fi'ee 
standing, will naturally 
be the most conspicuous and most 
important feature of the furnish¬ 
ing. Book racks have a strongly 
decorative value of their own, and 
even when the plainest of shelves, 
quite devoid of any architectural 
pretense, form part of the room’s 
fixed equipment, the wall space oc¬ 
cupied by the books will not at all 
lack interest. It is for this reason 
that the library is one of the easiest 
rooms in the house to furnish taste¬ 
fully if one exercises moderate dis¬ 
crimination in choosing what else 
to put in and, more important still, 
what to keep out. 
Permanent bookcases and shelves 
may be given a considerable degree 
of decorative character of an archi¬ 
tectural sort which enhances their 
furnishing value, but, of course, the 
decoi'ative possibilities 
of the free standing 
bookcase are much 
greater. In point of 
style it may be made to 
conform to any of the 
historic mobiliary types 
or it may be designed 
to meet some special 
wish of the owner. 
There is also wide 
liberty of choice in the 
color and kind of wood, 
the carved or moulded 
ornament and any other 
sort of decoration that 
may be desired. The 
free standing bookcase, 
either in its composite 
form with writing ac¬ 
commodations or in its 
single role as a book 
receptacle, permits 
more flexibility in fur¬ 
niture arrangement and 
occasional c h a n g e of 
placement. It fits 
equally well into either 
a formal or an infor¬ 
mal scheme. To be 
seen to advantage, 
however, and to allow 
space enough for other 
furniture, three or four 
free standing bookcases 
need a fairly large 
room. When the book 
room is small, it is, 
therefore, better to 
have fixed shelves 
which are more eco¬ 
nomical of space and 
permit adequate fur¬ 
nishing without a sense 
of crowding. 
Spacing the Shelves 
Whether fi x e d or 
free standing bookcases 
are used, certain con¬ 
siderations for the sake 
of convenience ought to 
be taken into account. 
First is the spacing of 
the shelves. This must 
be gauged by the ordi¬ 
nary sizes of books. 
There should be an 
inch between the tops 
of books and the bot¬ 
tom of the shelf above them. In¬ 
cluding this inch of fi*ee space, make 
allowance for 13" for small folios 
and quartos, 10 y 2 " for octavos (this 
includes large octavos) and 9" for 
duodecimos. If possible, have ad¬ 
justable shelves; if not, the fore¬ 
going measurements will be safe to 
follow. In depth the shelves should 
be from 8)4" to 10". Nine inches 
is a good medium, unless folios 
have to be considered. 
It will generally be found desir¬ 
able to have at least some of the 
cases arranged so that the lower 
part, for about 2 y 2 ' up from the 
floor, projects 3" or 4" beyond the 
upper part and is fitted with doors, 
thus making cupboards for maps, 
prints, large books and various 
other things that it is not convenient 
to have lying about 
loose. The bottom. shelf 
of cupboards and book¬ 
cases ought to be raised 
on a plinth or base 3" 
or 4" above the floor. 
Whether shelves 
shall be open or closed 
in with glazed doors 
must depend upon per¬ 
sonal preference. There 
is something to be said 
in favor of either ar¬ 
rangement. It is best, 
though not always pos- 
s i b 1 e to have the 
shelves no higher than 
one can comfortably 
reach while standing on 
the floor. For shelves 
that are built-in, an ex¬ 
cellent height is 4)4' to 
5'. This leaves plenty 
of free wall space for 
pictures or any other 
wall decoration. 
In selecting the rest 
of the furniture, re¬ 
member to provide ade- 
( Continued on page 72) 
The open built-in bookcase affords an intimacy with the books, and it 
collects dust—and most book lovers like to tunk the dust off their 
books. Glass covers, however, are safer for precious volumes, and the 
modern unit system of bookcases lends itself to excellent arrangement 
A picture, a length of rich fabric, a pair of 
gingerjars—and you have sufficient mantel gar¬ 
niture for the small book room. Edmund B. 
Gilchrist, architect 
This and the picture above constitute the two views of a country 
house library in which are included all the desirable features of com¬ 
fort and utility. Mellor d Meigs, architects 
