A bureau bookcase is cleverly built, the top portion being the bookcase and the bottom portion being the bureau for storage. The bookcase often had glass doors. In addition to the drawers for storage, the bureau often had a sloping top, which open to a writing surface, sometimes leather-topped, with numerous cubbyholes for writing supplies. Bureau bookcases were first seen in the early Georgian period in the 18th century and continued in popularity for the next 200 years.