A REGENCY MAHOGANY, ROSEWOOD AND EBONISED REVOLVING BOOKCASE

A design for a 'circular movable bookcase' under the patent of the Catherine-Street makers Morgan and Saunders was published in Rudolph Ackermann's The Repository of Arts in 1810 (reproduced in P. Agius, ed., Ackermann's Regency Furniture and Interiors, Wiltshire, 1984, p. 48, pl. 13). According to Ackermann, this 'ingenious and elegant contrivance', derived from the form of dumbwaiters, affords some 'valuable conveniences'.
A closely related four-tier library table is illustrated in M. Jourdain, Regency Furniture 1795-1830, rev. ed., London, 1965, p. 83, fig. 197. A near identical example was sold, Sotheby's London, 20 November 2007, lot 161.