The Library at Elsinore

Bookcase installation by Tom Phillips, who died earlier this week.
Books, acrylic and pigment ink 
151.7 x 114 x 20 cm

"The mock bookcase contains real books overpainted in grey with titles borrowed from Hamlet in black. These are titles of actual books by actual authors in order of the apprearance of their words in the play. There must of course be more no doubt being borrowed as I write but these are all that my research has turned up. Most are (rightly I presume) obscure but others are by known writers from Lloyd George to Graham Greene with, most recently, Alan Bennett's Single Spies (Simon Callow suggested, he claims, this brilliant choice of title)."

More details here and here

Vice bookshelf

Patrick Christian

Dachshund bookcase

The "Dachshund" sideboard. A wooden sideboard with a twist. This sideboard develops a rotated tail end where you can store books or other items in a more special way. 

Deniz Aktay

A bookish blade

A knife, with metal blade and fitting, the handle of carved fruitwood, Northern European, 18th/17th century or earlier. 8 5/8 in. (22 cm.) length, 3 1/4 in (8 cm.) circumference. The handle in an unusual design of four stacked books, showing carved covers, clasps, banded spines, and fore-edges with traces of red staining still visible. (Wear commensurate with age and frequent use.)

Christies

The Book Lover's Joke Book

My latest book is out now! Here's the blurb from the publisher (the British Library):

The Book Lover’s Joke Book is the funniest book about books you’ll ever read. You’ll find jokes about writers, agents, publishers, librarians, grammar, poetry, bookcases, and lightbulbs. There are rib-ticklers for typographers, crackers for critics, and badly foxed quips about antiquarian bookshops. Here too are the best literary April Fool’s (the joke’s on you), rejection letters (the joke’s on the publisher), cookbook jests (the joke’s a bit crumby) and wardrobe puns (the joke’s Narnia business). This delightful literary celebration will make every bibliophile laugh out loud, even in the library.

And here are some examples:

His new novel is called Nagb. It’s pretty controversial. In fact it’s bang out of order.

A man talks into a bar. You’ll have to leave, says the landlord, we don’t serve your typo in here.

My enormous plate of spaghetti got into the Guinness Book of Records. I’m having a devil of a job cleaning it off.

What do cows shout if they don’t like a play? Moo

How many Dylan Thomases does it take to change a bulb? None. They just rage, rage against the dying of the light.

- I fancy a curry tonight I think I’ll go for a Tarka Masala.

-  Don’t you mean a Tikka Masala?

- Nope, it’s quite similar, but it’s just a little ‘otter

This morning I forgot the French word for strawberry, so I had to look it up in a fraise book.

Louise Glück, Patrick Modiano and Kazuo Ishiguru go into a pub and order three pints of beer.

“That’ll be £21 please,” says the barman. “You know,” he says proudly, “we don’t get many winners of the Nobel prize for literature in here.”

“At £7 a pint I’m not surprised,” says Ishiguru.

I couldn't find the Mills and Boon section at the library so I asked the librarian and she told me I’d been looking for love in all the wrong places.

Available wherever good books are sold but ideally from your local independent bookshop.

 

Bookshelves in the Age of the COVID-19 Pandemic brings together perspectives from literary studies, book history, and publishing; investigates the complex relationship between the material book and its digital manifestation; deals with the cultural phenomenon of visible bookshelves brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some open access material.

Palgrave Macmillan

Bibliothèque Portative du Voyageur

A 38-volume early 19th century French travelling library containing the works of ten 17th and 18th century French authors including Corneille, Voltaire, Molière, Fénelon and Racine, many with portrait frontispieces. Bindings are in full leather, the page edges gilded, and the spines and covers decorated with gilt tooling. The carry-case, in the form of a book, is 25x35cm, with marbled paper edges. Each book measures 9cm tall.

University of Cambridge

Book crib

Designed in 1941. Made of Beech with 3 compartments.Treated with clarcoat. Length 500, width 270, height 270 mm.

Bruno Matthsson

Cosomopolitan picks Rooms of Their Own

Large thanks to Cosmopolitan which has picked out Rooms of Their Own to feature in their list of "32 Gift Ideas for Writers That’ll Get Those Creative Juices Flowing". Here's what they say:

Sometimes the best way to cure writer’s block is to get lost in a fascinating book, and this one will definitely do the trick. It takes readers around the world to show where 50 of the most beloved writers and authors ever found their inspiration.

Zipper bookshelf

Deniz Aktay

Donut bookshelf

James Younes

Children's bookside table

Each book is actually a pull out drawer.

DMW Furniture company

Gothic coffer book chest

The coffer is made of wood, covered with leather, with a metal lock and fittings. Leather straps were threaded under the bands on the side for it to be used as a carrying case. Attached to the inside of the lid is a woodcut depicting God the Father in Majesty; it is derived from a liturgical book printed in Paris in 1491.

Cabinet/University of Oxford

HOMCOM bookcase storage reading seat

You can now stop the search for the best reading spot at home thanks to this HOMCOM bookcase seat. Made from particle board for strength and reliability over the years, the base is crafted into a design which features six open cubes for handy storage, with a curved cut-out seat and soft padded cushion to allow you to comfortably immerse your head into your book for hours. Sleek rustic brown in colour, it will sit in any style room with ease in a unique design.

Aosom

Ouseburn Bookshelf

Handcrafted from solid wood its geometric design creates plenty of storage space with its discrete pockets of shelf space.

Funky Chunky Furniture Co

 

Libro bookcase staircase

Libro is a free staircase; a cross between shelving and footstool. Simply placed on the ground like a piece of furniture, away from the wall and on the threshold to the next floor, Libro will take you by surprise. Made of steel and bamboo, the straight or quarter turn Libro staircase is very stable and hardwearing. An elegant handrail can also be added, should you wish. 

JOA

Michel de Montaigne's bookshelves in Rooms of Their Own

There are a lot of bookshelves and bookcases in the illustrations by James Oses in my new book Rooms of Their Own about where great writers write/wrote. Here's his interpretation of the circular setup beloved of the iconic 16th century essayist Michel de Montaigne in his tower writing room. We know that around part of the walls were rows of curving bookcases where he kept his personal library of around 1,000 books while on the ceiling above his head where he worked were dozens of motivational quotes.

Trap bookcase

We create "cells, or neurons atoms" equal pieces together, we are able to generate all different "organs, molecules or brains", offering the possibility to create a multitude of possible combinations ("people, materials or thoughts "). To do this, we work on finding new simple geometric shapes that allow a multitude of possible combinations between them.

Kambiam for Homify

Curiosity-Go-Round bookcase

 

"I asked an architect about the design of a unique bookshelf. I asked him, "I want a bookshelf that can hold all the books I have now. Also, I want to make it a place where I can come up with ideas by myself." That's how this bookshelf was born. A part of the shelf board is extended to become a desk or a table. You can get inside. You can put things other than books. In other words, it's a bookshelf, a desk, a table, a room, and also storage."

Creative Project Base

 

Rooms of Their Own

My new book, Rooms of Their Own is published today. Here is some information about a book I think you'll enjoy plus a few sample images (John Steinbeck's and Virginia Woolf's writing huts) and pages.

Rooms of Their Own travels around the world examining the unique spaces, habits and rituals in which famous writers created their most notable works. 

The perennial question asked of all authors is, 'How do you write?'. What do they require of their room or desk? Do they have favourite pens, paper or typewriters? And have they found the perfect daily routine to channel their creativity? Crossing centuries, continents and genres, Alex Johnson has pooled 50 of the best writers and transports you to the heart of their writing rooms – from attics and studies to billiard rooms and bathtubs.

Discover the ins and outs of how each great writer penned their famous texts, and the routines and habits they perfected. Meet authors who rely on silence and seclusion and those who need people, music and whisky. Meet novelists who travel half-way across the world to a luxury writing retreat, and others who just need an empty shed at the bottom of the garden. Some are particular about pencils, inks, paper and typewriters, and some will scribble on anything – including the furniture. But whether they write in the library or in cars, under trees, private islands, hotel rooms or towers – each of these stories confirms that there is no 'best way' to write.

From James Baldwin, writing in the small hours of the morning in his Paris apartment, to DH Lawrence writing at the foot of a towering Ponderosa pine tree, to the Brontë sisters managing in a crowded co-working space, this book takes us into the lives of some of history's greatest ever writers, with each writing space illustrated in evocative watercolour by James Oses.

Oleg

Oleg is a wooden cubic or spherical container module with many legs. It can change its function changing its position. It can colonize spaces with infinite combinations of modules. The legs allow it to be placed in different ways to create different furnitures.

Andrea Cingoli and Umberto La Sorda for Concepticon Design

Books do kinda furnish a room

Ashley Tisdale admitted she’d bought all her books for a photoshoot – and as Adele and Gwyneth Paltrow will attest, her hankering for a brainy backdrop is anything but novel.

Shelf-promotion: the art of furnishing rooms with books you haven't read at The Guardian.

Rooms of Their Own: Where Great Writers Write

My latest book, Rooms of Their Own, is out next month (but of course pre-orderable from your local bookshop and the other usual suspects). I think all readers of Bookshelf will enjoy it. Here's some information about it, plus a couple of sample spreads featuring the work of the highly talented illustrator James Oses.

Rooms of Their Own travels around the world examining the unique spaces, habits and rituals in which famous writers created their most notable works. 

The perennial question asked of all authors is, 'How do you write?'. What do they require of their room or desk? Do they have favourite pens, paper or typewriters? And have they found the perfect daily routine to channel their creativity? Crossing centuries, continents and genres, Alex Johnson has pooled 50 of the best writers and transports you to the heart of their writing rooms – from attics and studies to billiard rooms and bathtubs.

Discover the ins and outs of how each great writer penned their famous texts, and the routines and habits they perfected. Meet authors who rely on silence and seclusion and those who need people, music and whisky. Meet novelists who travel half-way across the world to a luxury writing retreat, and others who just need an empty shed at the bottom of the garden. Some are particular about pencils, inks, paper and typewriters, and some will scribble on anything – including the furniture. But whether they write in the library or in cars, under trees, private islands, hotel rooms or towers – each of these stories confirms that there is no 'best way' to write.

From James Baldwin, writing in the small hours of the morning in his Paris apartment, to DH Lawrence writing at the foot of a towering Ponderosa pine tree, to the Brontë sisters managing in a crowded co-working space, this book takes us into the lives of some of history's greatest ever writers, with each writing space illustrated in evocative watercolour by James Oses.

In looking at the working lives of our favourite authors, bibliophiles will be transported to other worlds, aspiring writers will find inspiration and literature fans will gain deeper insight into their most-loved authors.

 

 

Mogg Metrica bookcase

 

 

The pieces are composed by iron rod in burnished or titanium finishings, with glass shelves in bronze or green reflective finish. The simple structure utilizes the industrial processing of the cadenced rod, in diverse diameters, according to a rhythmic partition. The essential volume is delineated thanks to the match of straight lines: the rhythm is punctuated by the rods positioned at different intervals on a seemingly rigorous structure whithin which the books and the inserted objects complete the shape by writing new compositions from time to time. 

CTRLZAK Studio

Cloud bookshelf

Our bookshelves are often occupied by a number of books which we have finished or would not read these days; while those in often use always can be seen on our desks and sofa, or around pillows. Can we just break the routine by creating a temporary book shelf to place the books you having been reading? Cloud Bookshelf is such an invention to take in unfinished books or those for constant checking.It has two parts: the “cloud” used to place books and the “raindrop” functioned as a bookmark. “Cloud” can record the books that you have been reading; “raindrop” shows you the exact place where you have left. 

Qinmian Design

Writing Shed postcard fundraiser for Ukraine

Dinah Johnson who runs the marvellous Handwritten Letter Appreciation Society from her writing shed garden office has organised a postcard fundraiser for the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Appeal.

It's a simple idea. You donate £5 and Dinah sends you - wherever you live in the world - a lovely postcard of her Letter Writing Shed written by her, the founder. All proceeds (after postage) go to the appeal to help the people of Ukraine. You can pay at her site by PayPal by clicking here or if you live in the UK you can also send a cheque made payable to “The Handwritten Letter Appreciation Society” to PO Box 9347, Swanage, Dorset, BH19 9BG.

"Thank you so much for considering sponsoring a postcard," says Dinah. "Writing postcards is one thing I know I can do."

We've done it here at Bookshelf and we hope you will consider doing so too.

Isola bookcase

A masterpiece of glass and brass coming together and challenging design

Gallotti & Radice for Go Modern

NN06: floating blue bookshelf

NN06 is a set of objects and interventions to transform an office into a house. The blue coated metal elements hang structurally from the walls, without touching the ground. The main element is a metal «T»-shaped bookshelf located in the center of the house, which is suspended a few cm above the ground, hanging between the load-bearing walls of the building. 

Burr

FA.B. fabric bookcase

The FA.B. fabric bookcase is an eco-focused book storage system with minimal environmental impact. FA.B. is made of birch plywood. Birch wood - a tree native to Europe - when harvested from sustainably managed forests poses lower environmental and biodiversity risks than those from tropical and subtropical trees. The fabric units are made of a recyclable, resilient, stain resistant, wrinkle-free fabric. The use of the durable fabric along with the minimum possible use of wood, allow us to consume as little natural resources and raw materials as feasible, according to the "dematerialization" approach that our times require. The castors allow you to move your fully loaded FA.B. around the room effortlessly.

dede

15th century Italian book box

Medical practitioners often attached such cases to their belts as they traveled about calling on their patients.

The Met

Jane Austen stacked novel teapot

 Our beautiful Jane Austen Teapot is made from glazed ceramic, using methods developed over 250 years ago. No two of our teapots are exactly the same. The variations produced by the production processes make your teapot unique. In addition to the stack of novels, our Jane Austen teapot features the iconic first pages of Pride and Prejudice on the lid. 

Jane Austen Centre

'For a fleeting moment' bookshelves

for a fleeting moment by Bijin Davis from Bijin Davis on Vimeo.

A series of shelves, inspired by the idea of having a new appearance, when its surroundings and composition change. Every object around us is radiating light! As the shade of the color is never constant, thus, for a fleeting moment, we enjoy these reflections. The shelves can be disassembled. Each shelf board is attached between the pipes with a simple turning action. Seamless ball casters are attached to the bottom. The materials used are aluminum pipes, aluminum composite board, and fluorescent colors. 

Bijin Davis