Billy is a behemoth of the bookcase world. Designed by only the fourth employee for Ikea, 41 million have been sold since 1979. The factory where the bookcases are made knocks out 15 Billys a minute; 3.1 million a year.

Many households in the UK have one of these no-frills, building-block style bookcases nestled in a corner somewhere, which means there are a lot of books sitting on its simple shelves.

"Books were immensely prestigious," says Ms Geddes-Brown. "Not only did they show how very learned you were - you could read - but they were also very expensive. At one throw, you proved your intellectual and monetary value."

Peter Sandico is a firm believer in books as an extension of the self. A book blogger, who is collecting photos of readers' shelves in his "bookcase project", he says the magic of book display is the ease with which they can be manipulated to present a certain front.

"The books we choose to display in our bookcases say a lot as to how we want others to see us," says Mr Sandico. "People who want to appear to have serious or academic reading tastes display their classics, while keeping popular novels at the back of the bookcases."

The Bookman is a bookshelf in the shape of a man and is a highly decorative piece of furniture as well as a sculpture.

Designed by East Anglian artist Kazmierz Szmauz who also designed the CDMan, the DVDMan and Videoman. However, as booksellers we regard Bookman as his highest achievement. The Bookman holds about 100 books and looks most splendid when they are leatherbound books which we can also supply.

He measures 70 inches high by 45 inches wide and is made from Mahogany, although other woods can be used. Shelves are best adapted to books beneath 8 inches in height.