John Durham (d. 1835), who was established in the Strand by 1821, executed a 'Secretaire Bookcase' of this antique form with Roman 'truss' pilasters, and its pattern was illustrated in Rudolph Ackermann's The Repository of Arts, 1822, pl. 126. Described as 'perhaps the best' of a 'useful kind of furniture', it was admired for its convenience: 'It is furnished with every requisite in a very limited compass, and by one operation of the hand, the whole apparatus is either opened or shut, and so that the conveniences for writing are properly placed on the instant, and the paper-bins exposed to view; or as readily every part is closed and secured by a single lock'. Its 'writing-table' had already featured in a pattern in The Repository for January 1810, pl. 11, and this was probably supplied by Messrs. Morgan and Sanders, who had previously occupied Durham's premises.