The most valuable original furnishing in the Heyward-Washington House is the priceless 1770 Chippendale-style Holmes Bookcase, considered by “Antiques Roadshow” experts as the “finest example of American-made furniture.” I did not want to describe the bookcase itself. Rather, I wanted to emphasize its function. The bookcase, which is in the Heyward-Washington House “Withdrawing Room,” is filled with leather-bound 18th century books. All of them are said to be original to the house. I moved in on some of those books, and photographed them stacked behind what is either a cracked pane of glass or a fortunate reflection implying great age. I finished the image in sepia, which adds a patina of time to the scene. This image is less about the bookcase, remarkable as it is, and more about the nature of what it has caring for over the last 250 years.