With the advent of the printing press in the late 15^th century came the introduction of the commercial printing and publishing office, which while initially tending to be more focused on the production of important and classic texts, soon became useful for newspapers, journals and almanacs. This could be regarded as the first ‘office machine’: machinery appearing alongside simple office furniture and simple mathematical tools such as the abacus for the first time.

The fifteenth century study of the writer or statesman, according to 19^th century historian Albert Jacquemart^[5], often featured a high chair and a variety of writing desks and lecterns, with a revolving desk called a ‘wheel’ sometimes found, allowing materials such as books and papers to be rotated to within reach as desired.

Desks combining a writing surface with a chest of drawers were introduced in the late 17^th century. Many of these featured hinged writing surfaces projecting to the front at a convenient height for placing a chair underneath, but that could be collapsed into the unit by being lifted upward when not in use; and this style of desk continued to be produced right through the 20^th century. It is nowadays often known as a bureau, the French word for ‘office’, or a ‘secrétaire’, depending on the shape.