Secretary desk
Encyclopedia
A secretary desk
is made of a base of wide drawers topped by a desk with a hinged desktop surface, which is in turn topped by a bookcase
usually closed with a pair of doors, often made of glass. The whole is usually a single, tall and heavy piece of furniture, not meant to be disassembled after manufacture, no matter what problems might be incurred in moving it from place to place.
the main work surface is a hinged piece of wood which lifts up to a vertical position and is tilted to an angle of about 45 degrees or so towards the bulk of the desk in order to enclose secondary work surfaces such as small shelves, small drawers and nooks stacked in front of the user. Thus, like the Wooton desk
, the fall front desk
and others with a hinged desktop, and unlike closable desks with an unmovable desktop like the rolltop desk
or the cylinder desk
all documents and various items must be removed from the work surface before closing up.
To those not used to it, the secretary desk looks like a mutant made up of a mix between a commode-dresser, a slant top desk
and a book case. Many however are used to it since it is one of the most common antique
desk forms and it has been endlessly reproduced and copied for home use in the last hundred years. Among home desk forms, it is the tallest, biggest and heaviest of all, if we exclude wall units and modular desks which can be disassembled for moving, or some of the biggest of the armoire desk
s, which are usually delivered unassembled.
The correct or the most common correct term for the secretary desk described here, is the secretary and bookcase. Unfortunately there is no unanimity on this term, even among specialists. In Europe the same piece of furniture has been called bureau and bookcase and then desk and bookcase. Also, the general public usually calls this kind of desk a secretary, or secretaire. In a taxonomic sense one could sometimes say that all desks which have the capacity to close off the working surface are secretaries, while all others are simply desks, but such a division would be too broad to be useful. To add to the confusion certain forms of the secretary desk are called escritoire, usually when the bookcase section is covered with glazed panels instead of wooden doors, but the term escritoire is also sometimes used to define a very portable writing slope, which is it at the other extreme in terms of bulk and weight.
When a secretary desk is cut in half vertically, so to speak, to provide a secretary desk half as wide as usual on one side and a glassed door cabinet on the other, this big piece of furniture is called a side by side secretary. The term is also applied sometimes to very big pieces of furniture made up of three elements, one of them being a half wide secretary desk. Until recently there was a good example of a side by side secretary in the second floor office of the historic home of John Muir
in Martinez, California, U.S.A.. The attic of this home also had a good example of a portable desk
.
On most antique secretaries and also on most reproductions the user has to pull out two small wooden planks called sliders in order to support the desktop, before actually turning the desktop from its closed, angled, position to its normal horizontal working position. However, in quite a few of the antique versions a system of internal gears and/or levers connected both to the sliders and the hinged desktop automatically pushed the sliders out at the same time as the user pulled on the closed desktop to put it in its horizontal position. When the user closed it afterwards, the sliders would then retract automatically. In such a case, the secretary is also known as a mechanical desk
like many other desk forms which have some sort of mechanism pushing out elements of the desk and then pulling them back in automatically.
A secretary desk is generally not used by a person with the title of secretary
, since this kind of desk is an antique form which is now extremely rare in the modern office
, where a secretary (frequently called an administrative assistant) normally works.
Desk
A desk is a furniture form and a class of table often used in a work or office setting for reading or writing on or using a computer. Desks often have one or more drawers to store office supplies and papers. Unlike a regular table, usually only one side of a desk is suitable to sit on . Not all...
is made of a base of wide drawers topped by a desk with a hinged desktop surface, which is in turn topped by a bookcase
Bookcase
A bookcase, or bookshelf, is a piece of furniture, almost always with horizontal shelves, used to store books. A bookcase consists of a unit including two or more shelves which may not all be used to contain books or other printed materials. Shelves may be fixed or adjustable to different positions...
usually closed with a pair of doors, often made of glass. The whole is usually a single, tall and heavy piece of furniture, not meant to be disassembled after manufacture, no matter what problems might be incurred in moving it from place to place.
History
Like the slant top deskSlant top desk
The slant top desk can be considered in some ways as the ancestor or the little brother, of the secretary desk for it is for all practical purposes a secretary desk without the massive bookcase on top of it...
the main work surface is a hinged piece of wood which lifts up to a vertical position and is tilted to an angle of about 45 degrees or so towards the bulk of the desk in order to enclose secondary work surfaces such as small shelves, small drawers and nooks stacked in front of the user. Thus, like the Wooton desk
Wooton desk
The Wooton desk is a variation of the Fall front desk. It is the embodiment of the phenomenon of conspicuous consumption which swept over moneyed society in the United States at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, and was described by Thorstein Veblen in his book The...
, the fall front desk
Fall front desk
The fall front desk can be considered the cousin of the Secretary desk. Both have a main working surface or desktop which does double duty as a cover to seal up papers and other items located in small shelves or small drawers placed one on top of the other in front of the user...
and others with a hinged desktop, and unlike closable desks with an unmovable desktop like the rolltop desk
Rolltop desk
A rolltop desk is a 19th century reworking of the pedestal desk with, in addition, a series of stacked compartments, shelves, drawers and nooks in front of the user, much like the bureau à gradin or the Carlton House desk...
or the cylinder desk
Cylinder desk
The cylinder desk is a desk that resembles a Bureau Mazarin or a writing table equipped with small stacked shelves in front of the user's main work surface, and a revolving cylinder part that comes down to hide and lock up the working papers when the desk is not in use...
all documents and various items must be removed from the work surface before closing up.
To those not used to it, the secretary desk looks like a mutant made up of a mix between a commode-dresser, a slant top desk
Slant top desk
The slant top desk can be considered in some ways as the ancestor or the little brother, of the secretary desk for it is for all practical purposes a secretary desk without the massive bookcase on top of it...
and a book case. Many however are used to it since it is one of the most common antique
Antiques
An antique is an old collectible item. It is collected or desirable because of its age , beauty, rarity, condition, utility, personal emotional connection, and/or other unique features...
desk forms and it has been endlessly reproduced and copied for home use in the last hundred years. Among home desk forms, it is the tallest, biggest and heaviest of all, if we exclude wall units and modular desks which can be disassembled for moving, or some of the biggest of the armoire desk
Armoire desk
An armoire desk is a writing-table built within a large cabinet, usually 1.5-2.0 m high. The cabinet is closed by two to four full-height doors, to keep out dust or to give a tidy appearance to a room by hiding the cluttered working surface of the desk...
s, which are usually delivered unassembled.
The correct or the most common correct term for the secretary desk described here, is the secretary and bookcase. Unfortunately there is no unanimity on this term, even among specialists. In Europe the same piece of furniture has been called bureau and bookcase and then desk and bookcase. Also, the general public usually calls this kind of desk a secretary, or secretaire. In a taxonomic sense one could sometimes say that all desks which have the capacity to close off the working surface are secretaries, while all others are simply desks, but such a division would be too broad to be useful. To add to the confusion certain forms of the secretary desk are called escritoire, usually when the bookcase section is covered with glazed panels instead of wooden doors, but the term escritoire is also sometimes used to define a very portable writing slope, which is it at the other extreme in terms of bulk and weight.
When a secretary desk is cut in half vertically, so to speak, to provide a secretary desk half as wide as usual on one side and a glassed door cabinet on the other, this big piece of furniture is called a side by side secretary. The term is also applied sometimes to very big pieces of furniture made up of three elements, one of them being a half wide secretary desk. Until recently there was a good example of a side by side secretary in the second floor office of the historic home of John Muir
John Muir
John Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions...
in Martinez, California, U.S.A.. The attic of this home also had a good example of a portable desk
Portable desk
The portable desk has not one but many forms. In a sense, the portable desk is a long-lost ancestor of the portable computer, and the modern laptop could be considered an atavistic grandchild of the 19th-century Lap desk....
.
On most antique secretaries and also on most reproductions the user has to pull out two small wooden planks called sliders in order to support the desktop, before actually turning the desktop from its closed, angled, position to its normal horizontal working position. However, in quite a few of the antique versions a system of internal gears and/or levers connected both to the sliders and the hinged desktop automatically pushed the sliders out at the same time as the user pulled on the closed desktop to put it in its horizontal position. When the user closed it afterwards, the sliders would then retract automatically. In such a case, the secretary is also known as a mechanical desk
Mechanical desk
A mechanical desk is usually an antique desk type which was produced during the 18th or the 19th century. At one extreme there are desks furnished with a multitude of panels that swing out while stacks of small drawers pop up when a user lowers or extracts the main writing surface or desktop from a...
like many other desk forms which have some sort of mechanism pushing out elements of the desk and then pulling them back in automatically.
A secretary desk is generally not used by a person with the title of secretary
Secretary
A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...
, since this kind of desk is an antique form which is now extremely rare in the modern office
Office
An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the...
, where a secretary (frequently called an administrative assistant) normally works.