Bookcase

Bookcase, piece of furniture fitted with shelves, often enclosed by glass doors, to hold books. A form of bookcase was used in early times: the illuminated manuscript Codex Amiatinus (ad 689–716) in Florence contains an illustration of the prophet Ezra writing in front of a cupboard with open doors that reveal shelves holding books. Ambries (recesses in walls) were used to hold books from the earliest times. Even after the invention of printing, books were...