A book stand is a piece of furniture or a tabletop accessory designed to hold books, either upright for storage or open for reading and display. The term covers small table-top racks and book slides, tilting reading stands, revolving bookstands and floor-standing stands with sloping tops for large volumes.
Reading stands with adjustable tilting tops were fashionable in eighteenth-century libraries, often mounted on tripod bases or incorporated into reading tables so that a heavy folio could be propped at a comfortable angle. Regency and Victorian makers produced revolving bookcases and small tiered stands for the drawing room, along with expanding book slides in brass, wood and silver plate for the desk or side table. Floor-standing stands designed for dictionaries, atlases and bibles were also common in libraries and halls, closely related to the lectern. Mahogany and rosewood were typical timbers, and some stands were decorated with brass inlay, carving or Tunbridge ware mosaic. Collectors look for working mechanisms, original ratchets and book rests, good colour and sound joints. A book stand remains a practical way to display a fine atlas, a family bible or a favourite volume, and it brings scholarly character to a library or study.
