Antique Bookcases, Bureau Bookcases & Revolving Bookcases

Buy antique bookcases from one of the UK's premier furniture dealers. We have an excellent range of antique bookcases, antique revolving bookcases & open bookcases. It is often the duty of an antiques dealer to cater for two basic needs: firstly there is the need for items which are beautiful and exist only to be put in a prominent place and admired by all and sundry; secondly there is the need for items which do look good but which fulfill an important need or which solve a problem. It may be storage, a light source, a container for liquids or food, and so on - the list is endless.

Antique bookcases - Good Looking and Functional Too

You might be forgiven for thinking that bookcases are definitely the latter - essential items of storage for those who have a large book collection but you’d be wrong, albeit only slightly wrong. In fact, despite their utilitarian origins, bookcases are, when filled with books, often things of great beauty, lighting up a room and giving hours of pleasure to those who like to browse - even if they don’t actually read the books that they are browsing.

Nowadays of course the need to store books has extended into the need to store other items such as DVDs, CDs, magazines and videos. The writing is on the wall for some of those due to the gradual shift towards downloadable and streamed music and movies but we predict that the humble bookcase will be around for a good while to come - let’s face it, people can’t really admire your collection of downloadable Rolling Stones albums can they?

So, on to the bookcases themselves. Antique bookcases come in many shapes and sizes. Simple and functional through to grandiose and beautiful, often so beautiful that the actual books become secondary.

Our extensive range of antique bookcases is large and varied with options to suit almost any setting, including your own home and office, as well as hotels and many other commercial settings.

Bureau Bookcases - An All-in-One Workstation for Reading and Writing

Yes, it sounds like a computer workstation doesn’t it? Everything you need to read, research and write whatever it is you are working on, in one convenient unit - the laptop computer - or the bureau bookcase.

Bureaux usually incorporate plenty of storage for small items of stationery and office requisites such as paper clips, ink and so on. This storage is almost always enhanced by a useful writing surface that folds away after use. The real treat with many of these is that they have an inset leather writing surface which just seems to feel right when you pick up your pen and begin to compose your shopping list.

We stock a exciting range of bureau bookcases ranging from Victorian Bureau bookcases through to examples from the Edwardian, Queen Anne and Art Deco periods, to name just a few.

The Antique Chiffonier - Could this Be The Ultimate All-In-One Workstation or Storage Solution?

Another old and established antique bookcase format is the Chiffonier. Not just a book storage item, this is usually a book shelf placed on top of a chest of drawers, a sideboard or a bureaux. Sometimes a chiffonier will also have a mirror, but not always. See this category for examples of antique chiffoniers - at the time of writing we have an antique chiffonier that still looks fabulous despite being almost two hundred years old.

Short Of Space? - A Revolving Bookcase Could Be The Answer

Speaking as someone who always has more things to go into cupboards than I actually have cupboards to put them in, I remember being amazed to see, in a kitchen showroom of all places, the solution. Just open the door of the corner cupboard and out popped a revolving turntable that could hold a whole year’s worth of baked beans, or whatever it is that you like to eat.

An ingenious innovation I though, and bought one straightaway. I now realise however that is wasn’t an innovation at all. Our forebears used the same technique for solving the problem of having too many books for conventional storage methods to work. They invented the revolving bookcase, the ultimate way to pack the maximum number of books into a small space.

Popular with the Victorians and afterwards in Edwardian times, the revolving bookcase is a godsend for anyone with limited room for shelves and traditional bookcases and cabinets. There are usually several examples in our showroom so why not take a look?

Stylish and Functional - Art Deco Bookcases

Art Deco is a timeless and iconic style, applying to everything from furniture to statues and thousands of other decorative and collectible items. Not surprisingly, we have several examples of Art deco bookcases on display in this section of the website and in our London showrooms.

Birdseye maple is a popular timber for Art Deco furniture makers and we usually have several examples of Art Deco bookcases made from this super attractively-grained timber.

Those who love the Art Deco mirrored furniture style will not be disappointed either. We normally have several examples of Art Deco mirrored bookcases in stock for you to see and admire.

Have We Made The Case for a Bookcase?

Whatever your taste in furniture, there can be few people who would not benefit from an antique bookcase in their home. It doesn’t have to be books, as maybe you keep a collection of magazines or DVDs or vinyl albums? Whatever it is that you want to store, and display, there is a strong case for you to look at our range of bookcases, bureau bookcases and revolving bookcases.

The choice is truly impressive with options in a range of different timbers including Birdseye Maple, Mahogany and Burr Walnut and in styles ranging from Edwardian to Victorian to Art Deco and Empire.

Most of our antique bookcases have been restored and refurbished as and where appropriate by our own craftsmen in our own workshops - please see the photographs that accompany each product description for details about the quality of finish we offer and the condition in which the item is offered for sale.

Your books deserve the best – an antique bookcase from Regent Antiques.

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