the detail of the opening section, where the function of a door is described, is wonderful in itself. "A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security by controlling access to the doorway (portal).... Doors are generally made of a material suited to the door's task." it's followed by a truly in depth history of doors. "A 5,000-year-old door has been found by archaeologists in Switzerland." "The Greek scholar Heron of Alexandria created the earliest known automatic door in the first century AD during the era of Roman Egypt." the article extols the beauty of specific doors. this is capped by a 27-photo short visual history of doors. all of the photos are beautiful.
the article continues and continues. sentences like "There are many kinds of doors, with different purposes." abound. each imaginable type of door is described in loving detail. their mechanisms, their construction. an incomprehensible detour into weatherstripping. close up photos of door hinges. "Door safety relates to prevention of door-related accidents." See also: Coal hole, Door security, Janus.
So, I got caught up into the familiar encyclopedia pattern of looking up more random stuff (when I was a kid you had to pull other volumes down off the shelf, now it's just link-chasing) and after trapdoors found this, the "Economy Coffin," which was "a type of reusable coffin introduced by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor in the late 18th century."
The body was carried in the coffin to the gravesite where it would be dropped into the grave through folding doors on the base.
