Memories of Henley.

Dashing young men in sleek eight-oared shells, lactic acid pumping furiously into their muscles as they skim along the Thames...sometime in the 1890s.

Their photographs are still displayed on the walls of the upper-crust racing clubs at Oxford and Cambridge. They've faded, the way old oarsmen do. Their wonderful nicknames like “Monkey” and “Snook” are barely legible. But the boats themselves are often a very solid presence.

Many of them have been cut down to handsome shelved cases for holding books, trophies, and memorabilia. A worthy second calling, and a pleasure just to contemplate.

Man-of-Eight Bookcase (No. 2423). Exact replica of the prow of a late 19th-century racing shell, the kind used at Henley and at Yale and Harvard, too. Hand-crafted from seasoned cherrywood, precisely joined and fastened with brass nails. The classic French polished shellac finish has a mellow, aged look.

Dimensions: 82-1/2” high x 18-1/4” wide x 10” deep. Shipping: $75. Ships from maker on or around the first of August.