bookwheel

Ramelli's design influenced other engineers and, though now obsolete, inspires modern artists and historians.

• Illustration — Agostino Ramelli, 1588 The bookwheel, in its most commonly seen form, was invented in 1588 by Italian military engineer Agostino Ramelli, presented as one of the 195 designs in Le diverse et artificiose machine del Capitano Agostino Ramelli (The various and ingenious machines of Captain Agostino Ramelli). To ensure the books remained at a consistent angle, Ramelli incorporated an epicyclic gearing arrangement, a complex device that had only previously been used in astronomical clocks. As the large wheel rotates, each shelf counter-rotates at the same rate, remaining level. • Illustration — 18th-century bookwheel at the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Paris. Ramelli's design is unnecessarily elaborate, as he likely understood that gravity would also have been effective (as it is with a Ferris wheel, invented centuries later); but the gearing system allowed Ramelli to display his mathematical prowess. While other people would go on to build bookwheels based on Ramelli's design, Ramelli did not in fact ever construct his own. To what extent bookwheels were appreciated for their convenience versus their aesthetic qualities remains a matter of speculation according to American engineer Henry Petroski. Ramelli himself described the bookwheel as a "beautiful and ingenious machine, very useful and convenient for anybody who takes pleasure in study, especially for those who are indisposed and tormented by gout." Ramelli's reference to gout, a condition that impairs mobility, demonstrates the appeal of a device that allows access to several books while the reader is seated. However, Petroski notes that Ramelli's illustration lacks space for writing and other scholarly work, and that the "fanciful wheel" may not have been appropriate for any activity beyond reading. While the design of the bookwheel is commonly credited to Ramelli, some historians dispute that he was the first to invent such a device. Joseph Needham, a historian of Chinese technology, stated that revolving bookcases (zhuanlunzang), though not vertically oriented, originated in China "perhaps a thousand years before Ramelli's design was taken there."

A group of undergraduate engineering students at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) constructed two bookwheels in 2018 based on Ramelli's design, but using modern tools and processes. Built from historically accurate materials such as European beech and white oak wood, each bookwheel weighs 600 pounds and can hold eight books. The bookwheels are on display at two libraries in Rochester, New York: the Cary Graphic Arts Collection at RIT and Rossell Hope Robbins Library at the University of Rochester. Another modern reproduction was built by the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal in Paris, based on their model, to allow people to see how the mechanism is working without causing damage to the original. • Illustration — Ghent • Illustration — Krakow • Illustration — Lambach • Illustration — Prague • Illustration — Puebla • Illustration — Wolfenbüttel