Revolving Bookcase
Revolving Bookcase, Wood, oak; metal hardware [Arts & Crafts/Mission style] Acc. No. 92M.26.1
Description: Cage-like set of four shelves mounted on a central cylindrical core. Core sits on an "X" shaped base and legs. Sides have four vertical strips of wood each to hold books as with a bookend. Top overhangs. Decorative headed nails attach the vertical strips to the shelves. Legs are on casters.
Discussion: The drawback to this design, of course, is that if you take a lot of books off one side of a full case, it will overbalance and come crashing down. This revolving bookcase came from the Florida Supreme Court, which may well have used it in the Old Capitol at the turn of the century, although records for this piece go back only as far as 1912. With the documented history of this piece in Florida government, the Museum of Florida History was pleased and honored that the Justices allowed it to be returned to the Old Capitol for exhibit in the Governor's Suite restoration, where it remains today.
