Portable Library Writing Tables –
One of the interesting forms I didn’t get to discuss in “Campaign Furniture,” is the portable library writing table. It’s typically a three-piece affair – the desktop lifts off the two pedestals for travel.
The version shown above is from the 1907 Army & Navy Co-Operative Society catalog, though the form appears over and over again in many of the catalogs.
It also appears as a reproduction at times. And this form is the ancestor of the modern campaign desk that is shown on sawhorses at Pottery Barn etc.
Mark Firley at The Furniture Record shows a particularly nice antique version in his blog today. The top surface of the desk tilts, there is a secretary gallery and the drawers in the pedestal units are protected by drawers. Check it out here.
And by the way, free domestic shipping for “Campaign Furniture” ends on Saturday. So if you were waiting to hide the charge on your April statement….
— Christopher Schwarz
