Thomas Chippendale's design was first published in 1753 and is included in all three editions of The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, London, (3rd ed. 1762, pl. XCIII). This bookcase has the additional refinement of a chequered inlay like the sunburst stars on the set of three bookcases supplied by Chippendale for Pembroke House, London, and now at Wilton (see: C. Gilbert, Thomas Chippendale, London, 1978, vol. II figs. 66-68). This model is probably the most frequently copied of all Chippendale's designs for bookcases; an example attributed to the American cabinet-maker Thomas Elfe, circa 1770, is in the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Winston-Salem (op.cit., fig. 83)