John McLean (furniture maker) £36; because this rent was considerable and the premises were new, this indicates that McLean was already established in business before 1770. No records have yet been found establishing McLean's whereabouts between 1783 and 1790. From 1790 until the firm's demise in 1825, they are recorded at 55/58 Upper Marylebone Street (now New Cavendish Street) and from c. 1799-1805, later expanding to occupy premises in both Pancras Street and Upper Terrace and continuing in business until 1825. McLean and Son also gained a notable mention in Thomas Sheraton's Cabinet Dictionary in 1803. One of the "fashionable Pieces of Cabinet Furniture"
Metamorphic library steps ceilings and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. The topmost shelves were difficult to reach, so movable library steps or library stairs were created as a form of domestic furniture. During the second half of the 18th century a succession of talented German-born cabinet-makers passed through the French courts. Jean-François Oeben, Jean-Henri Riesener and David Roentgen had successively introduced the courts of Louis XV and Louis XVI to a wide range of finely made and exquisitely finished mechanical furniture. The ingenuity of these cabinet-makers, especially David Roentgen who became master cabinet-maker to Marie Antoinette, led to a fascination for "meubles à surprises" ('surprise furniture').