I’ve been researching the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and I got curious about writing desks. They’ve evolved quite a bit over the past two hundred years, from this:To this:Yeah, that’s my treadmill desk. Not that my desk represents the most highly evolved of writing desks, but desks have definitely changed a lot.

Robespierre at his desk.

Edison at HIS desk.

What had me flummoxed me was how often I was seeing references to Enlightenment-era writers taking their writing desks along with them wherever they went.

Alexander Hamilton and George Washington brought theirs along to every campaign throughout the American Revolution. Lewis and Clark lugged theirs across the rugged Louisiana territory, over the Rockies, and all the way to the Pacific Ocean. And then there was the ill-fated Franklin expedition.

In 1845, British explorer and nineteenth century celebrity John Franklin set off from England across the Atlantic Ocean with two ships, 129 officers and crew, and enough food for three years. Their mission was to find a northwest route to Asia by sailing around the top of Canada. Many Europeans eagerly awaited their news. A few months after setting sail, the expedition vanished.

A major search effort was organized. Little by little, a few clues were revealed. Eventually the remains of twenty-five sailors were recovered. They’d been pulling a lifeboat across the icy terrain on ropes, hoping to reach mainland Canada. In the boat were strange items like button polish, curtain rods, and…a writing desk. Not exactly what you’d expect to find in an Arctic survival kit.  The exact fate of the Franklin expedition remains a mystery, but a plausible theory is they developed severe lead poisoning from their lead-soldered cans of provisions.

Anyway, it turns out, the writing desks that all of these guys brought with them were the traveling kind. They looked like this:

This is Thomas Jefferson’s desk.

Henry VIII’s writing desk. Not known for his moderation.

The first laptops.