A colleague and I have been debating reading chairs. These would appear to
be normal chairs, but they have at the back a padded surface to lean on, a
lectern on which to place a book whilst reading, and perhaps even an area to
one side on which to place a candle and lamp. Personally I have only seen
one 'in the flesh', at Saltram House in Plymouth.
Our discussion actually centred however on how the reader sat in such a
chair. Did they sit the opposite way round to the way one normally sits in a
chair, so there was clearly no back support, or did the reader kneel on the
padded part of the sit, in a way similar to a prie-dieu. Does anyone know of
any illustrations of such furniture, or perhaps of a description of one in use?
Many thanks,
Chris Baggs,
University of Wales, Aberystwyth
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