An early 20th century circa 1902 American 'Tabard Inn Librar...

Estimate

£2,000 - £3,000

An early 20th century circa 1902 American 'Tabard Inn Library' ebonised oak revolving bookcase. The bookcase of architectural form with a gabled roof over various compartments, shelves. Each compartment with carved heraldic shields and book titles. The carved frieze reading ' Carlyle - The true University - of these Dane - Is a Collection of - Books'. Measures approx. 68.5cm wide x 68.5cm deep x 193cm high.

The Tabard Inn project – named after the Southwark pub made famous by Geoffrey Chaucer in the first few lines of the Canterbury Tales - was the brainchild of entrepreneur and promoter Seymour Eaton. His idea was for a membership library located in drugstores across the United States. The books, available to members at five cents each, were housed in these 1.93m high ebonised oak bookcases with the carved inscription 'The Best Reading Rooms In the United States Are the Homes of the American People'. The slogan 'With all the Red Tape on the Box' references the sturdy black cases sealed with red tape that housed the books. In an advert from 1902, Eaton claimed that 10,000 bookcases would be made with their contents (each held 120 books) changed weekly from a central supplier. He even managed to sell his idea to the UK, whereby in 1904 the newsagent WH Smith had taken on the UK franchise using similar bookcases that carry the legend inscribed with the Thomas Carlyle quotation 'The True University of These Days is a Collection of Books'. However, relatively few bookcases of either the US or the UK type are known. In March 1905, Eaton was declared bankrupt and his enterprise came to an abrupt end.