In the Victorian era (1837 – 1901) one invention became incredibly popular due to its practicality and convenience: the portable writing desk. These desks were like briefcases, wooden boxes often with a handle and lock, that opened to create a flat writing surface. Many of these desks came with compartments to store writing tools and ink. Two mid-19th century desks are part of the archive collection. The first belonged to Alexander B. Burdick, a ship’s carpenter. The second was owned by Alfred University’s first president William Kenyon.
In addition to being made for traveling, these desks allowed for ease of movement in cold days or evenings when a person desired to continue writing by the warmth and light of a fire. They also allowed for privacy, often allowing owners to lock their writings in the inner compartment. Desks of this sort that were made for men tended to be heavier, less ornate devices while desks for women were smaller and more likely to contain engravings or paintings. Jane Austen used such a desk to revise Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice and used it to write her novels Mansfield Park and Persuasion.