On Wednesday, at Bonhams' salerooms in London, Lord Lucan's desk will be put up for auction. It is 35 years since Lord Lucan killed his family's nanny, thinking she was his wife. And 35 years since he vanished, never to be seen again but to be convicted of murder in his absence.

Bonhams is evidently hoping that some of this grisly history will cling to the desk and push the price above the ￡6,000 estimate. But, as I looked at the pictures of this elegant piece of furniture in the catalogue, another, less lurid story caught my fancy: the history of desks in general.

Lord Lucan's desk was made about 200 years ago from rosewood and tulipwood. It has a built-in leather blotter surrounded by a marquetry pattern of leaves and flowers. Its legs are curvy and, in the words of the catalogue, are “headed by cabochon and acanthus cast mounts trailing to pierced leaf sabots”.