This is Almost Too Much for Me to Handle

The actual, original bookcase from the film Howards End that falls on and kills Leonard Bast. From the Paris collection of Ismael Merchant, of Merchant Ivory, who created the film ... and it goes to the auction block tomorrow:



You can see the bookcase at about 1:45 in this trailer:



Siskel and Ebert parse the film:



I have to say, I'm not a fan of all Merchant Ivory pieces, and in fact the only ones I don't find overblown and soppy are Howards End and Remains of the Day, but those two have been favorite films since I was in 5th grade. To say these two movie have been meaningful to me would be an understatement. These are what I would watch when I was sad, or sick and home from school, or needing to see something lovely. On a purely visual level, they were an education -- I think I know every stick of furniture, every room in both the London townhouse where the Schlegel sisters live and the ravishingly beautiful cottage from which the book takes its name, Howards End.

To think that one could own such an important piece of furniture from the film I love so much drives me crazy with desire, esp. when you consider that Howards End received an Oscar for its art direction. Oh, sigh.

And the worst part is that I actually need a bookcase! If only it weren't overseas, and sort of expensive, but really folks -- it seems pretty reasonable to me.