A Case for the Barrister

I'm working on a tough restoration project for my skill level in my basement. It's a vintage bookcase that's been sitting down there for years waiting for me to wrap my head around how to revive the old piece. It's not your typical, open-shelved piece though — it's a barrister bookcase. I first learned about barrister bookcases years ago when I bought two sections of one at an antique store. I thought it was kind of cool how the glass door of each section opened by lifting the door from the bottom and it would slide into the ceiling of each individual section. An early example of modular furniture, sections of barrister bookcases are stacked on top of each other, often resting on a base bracket with "feet" and a bracket crown resting on top that "finishes" the piece. Oddly, I'd never thought about why this style of bookcase was called a barrister. I'd just thought they were neat and with their glass front doors, obviously meant to protect valuable books. Just a little bit of research revealed that the bookcases were indeed designed for barristers, a lawyer with expertise in courtroom proceedings. According to Wikipedia and Google AI results, no single individual invented the barrister bookcase. Their production evolved over time based out of necessity. In 1800s England, judges were frequently sent from court to court across a wide jurisdiction and barristers had to follow them. They needed their law books for constant reference, so these portable modular shelving units allowed them to do just that. The design of the bookcases also appealed to the general public and in 1899 the Globe-Wernicke Company was founded in Minneapolis, promptly filing for a patent on their "elastic bookcase." While other companies such as Gunn, Lundstrom and Hale quickly jumped on the bandwagon with their own versions, they typically followed the general design of Globe-Wernicke and sections from different manufacturers would often fit together easily. The standard was 34" wide and made from oak and mahogany and regarded as fine quality furniture. Barrister bookcases are highly valued in the antiques world and examples of them often come up at auctions and sell for tidy sums. The barrister I'm working on is a single, stationary unit that appears to have been built-in, perhaps part of a larger wall bookcase system. Though it doesn't come apart like the original barristers do, it has tilting glass-paneled doors. I've thought it would make a great piece to store sweaters. There's an article by Wendy Rose Gould on one of my favorite interior design websites, Apartment Therapy (www.apartmenttherapy.com), about the many practical ways barrister bookcases can be used today other than storing books. Obviously great for collections of small items that can be seen but protected by the glass doors. In the living room, they'd make a particularly bespoke bar to impress your friends. Even in the kitchen, one would be terrific for storing and displaying dishes. I've got a lot of sweaters, though, and they might win out. A few blocks of cedar placed inside with my neatly folded wool sweaters, and it would be like something out of a Ralph Lauren display! We'll see how my project comes out. I'm replacing the disintegrating back with a thin piece of birch plywood and will try to do the same to the top. The sides I'll clean up and leave as-is which reveal the large wood screws that were used, giving it a bit of an industrial feel. Keep your eyes open for barrister bookcases —they're versatile pieces with an interesting history!