Bookcase is standard furniture in almost every ones home. It really doesn't matter if you have books or not, because this furniture can be used to store all kinds of stuff. The Bookcase is probably one of the best designed furniture by mankind and in these article I going to explain the history of bookcases.



The books had to be inscribed by hands when they first started to appear. It was only religious institutions and people that were very wealthy who could afford to buy this kind of books. To store these books they used specialized boxes and containers. That's why the need for shelving large quantity of books was not necessary.

In Asia, thing was quite different. Books and bookcases were in fact popular both in Asian homes and libraries. But, instead of using bound books the Asian preferred to use scrolls. The shelves that they were using were deeper and build with many square or rectangular to make it easier to organize these scrolls. An interesting fact is that the tried to hidden the shelves in closets or private room. The minimalist Japanese aesthetics and the fact that scrolls could not be displayed on shelves in the same manner as bound books are reasons why well laden bookshelves did not emerge as a common display item in these cultures.

The art scroll is a very popular item that comes to mind whenever one thinks of Asian art. The hidden shelves of a Japanese home were an important part of Japanese interior design. As many might have heard, a traditional Japanese room that features rotating displays of art work or flower arrangements within the Tokonoma (a small raised platform at one end of a room). Art was not to be constantly arrayed on display as this would overwhelm the viewer; instead art had to be enjoyed sparingly on its own.

To organize the art collection and deciding which piece to display next or what text to immerse your self witch, finally lead to the construction of bookcases.

It was when the invention of the printing press first appear, the books and bookcases became more popular. The first bookcases were build like closed cabinets, but soon turned into the standard form we all know of today and if you want to know how the oldest bookcase look like, you can always visit Bodleian Library at Oxford University.

Finally, as I said in the beginning of this article, bookcases can be used for so much more then just for books. Many use them for displaying trophies, mementos or pictures or even using them for TV and stereo. Its one of the best invention mankind has done and just everybody use these in there homes.