Saturday, December 30, 2017

The Book Wheel: A 16th century rotating reading desk

The book wheel was first found in the designs of the Italian military engineer Agostino Ramelli in 1588. In most European countries in the 16th century, books were large and heavy and to do any research with them was, without doubt, a major undertaking. The wealthy, the scholars, and the priests did the most reading.

The book wheel was a bookcase with a design similar to a small Ferris wheel. A person could turn the wheel by hand or by a foot pedal, moving the books in a north to south fashion.

read more on Agostino Ramelli here

read more on The Book Wheel here





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