Author: Lost Art Press

It is not my intention to enter into the details of what are required, in the shape of equipment in India, to place the young officer in a position to proceed to his ultimate destination, as these are points on which he will soon be fully informed on his arrival in India, but I would wish particularly to warn him against burdening himself with a single superfluity, and recommend his limiting his baggage to what may be called “light marching order;” he will find advantage in this hereafter; above all, let him avoid, as he would his worst enemy, any extravagance which, exceeding his means, shall involve him in debt, even to the smallest amount; debt, in any shape, is one of the rocks on which many a man has been shipwrecked at the very outset of his Indian career….

— “Hints to Cadets” by Lt. T. Postans of the Bombay Army (1842, Wm. H. Allen and Co.)

This week I’m building a version of these folding campaign bookshelves for the “Campaign Furniture” book. I made slight changes to the original Victorian design – incorporating some features that I spied in some other folding units.

The result is – I hope – a more stable set of shelves.

I’ve built several sets of backless shelves such as this – they were common during the Arts & Crafts period – and there are lots of little things you can do to make things start stiff and stay stiff. (No blue pill required.)

These shelves are surprisingly small: 24” high, 22-3/8” wide and 9-1/2” deep. So even if my first unit is a failure, It won’t take much wood to build another one.

— Christopher Schwarz