The Leistler Bookcase is a massive, historic

bookcase A bookcase, or bookshelf, is a piece of furniture with horizontal shelf (storage), shelves, often in a cabinetry, cabinet, used to store books or other printed materials. Bookcases are used in private homes, public and university libraries, off ...

made out of

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

History

It was produced in 1850-51. The design is by Bernardis di Bernardo, who was assisted by Josef Kranner. The bookcase was produced by the Austrian company Carl Leistler & Sohn in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria. It was sculpted by Anton Dominik Feinkorn and carved by Franz Maler. The bookcase was shown at the

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition that took ...

1851 in London. Leistler's exhibits were described as "massive, bold and masculine in design, and well adapted to a palace". The bookcase, "a cathedral in wood", bears elaborate decoration that referred to current debates on the unification of the German-speaking peoples. It was presented to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

by Emperor

Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

and installed in

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

for Albert, Prince Consort. In 1851, in its coverage of the Great Exhibition, the

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...

described the piece as "the stately carved bookcase, by Leitner, claims special attention for its elaborate and ambitious design and the careful workmanship bestowed upon it." As tastes changed over time, it was given to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, who in turn passed it on to the

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

. It has the inventory museum no. W.12-1967.

External links

Installation of the Leistler Bookcase
(video)

References

Collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum Austrian furniture designers History of the University of Edinburgh 1851 works {{England-stub