Actually I would have to disagree with Matthew. The two chairs in
question have very long backs so that even I (at 6'6") find them
uncomfortable to sit on and find the angles of the book rests difficult.
Kneeling on them produces a much more natural reading position though I
can't imagine staying in such a position for any length of time!
Jonathan Bengtson
Librarian, The Queen's College, Oxford
On Tue, 30 Nov 1999, Matthew Phillips wrote:
>
>
> On Tue, 30 Nov 1999, Chris Baggs wrote:
>
> > A colleague and I have been debating reading chairs.
>
> ...
>
> > 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?
>
> No illustrations or description, but the two such chairs in the upper
> library at Queen's College, Oxford, are definitely most comfortable when
> sat on facing the book rest, rather than being kneeled on. They have arms
> which you can rest your elbows on, and from the design of the chair it is
> quite clear that you are meant to sit on them that way round.
>
> Matthew Phillips
> Assistant Librarian
> Christ Church Library
> Oxford
>
>
>
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