Adjustable book holder including magnifying front panel

A holder for supporting a book or the like in an opened position, comprising in combination:

• a. a front member including a first generally horizontal base portion having front and rear ends and upper and lower surfaces, the lower surface of said base portion being adapted to engage and rest upon a generally horizontal support surface, said front member also including a first support panel portion extending upwardly and rearwardly from the front edge of said first base portion and including front and rear surfaces, the rear surface of said first support panel portion being adapted to engage the exposed pages of the opened book, said first support panel portion being substantially transparent for permitting the exposed pages of the opened book to be viewed by the user while protecting such exposed pages from foreign matter;
• b. a rear member including a second generally horizontal base portion having a front and rear ends and upper and lower surfaces, the lower surface of said second base portion being adapted to rest upon the upper surface of said first base portion, said rear member also including a second support panel portion having a front surface and extending upwardly and rearwardly from the front edge of said second base portion and generally parallel to said first support panel portion for supporting the covers of the opened book;
• and
• c. positioning means for adjustably positioning the lower surface of said second base portion at a predetermined position upon the upper surface of said first base portion to maintain said second support panel portion by a predetermined distance commensurate with the thickness of the opened book to be supported by said holder;
• said positioning means comprising:
• a. a first toothed rack formed upon the upper surface of said first base portion;
• and
• b. a second toothed rack formed upon the lower surface of said second base portion to releasably engage and interlock with said first toothed rack for adjustably maintaining said second support panel portion spaced apart from said first support panel portion by adjustable increments as determined by the distance between successive teeth within each of said first and second toothed racks;
• said first toothed rack includes a plurality of teeth directed generally toward the front end of said first base portion and said second toothed rack includes a plurality of teeth directed generally toward the rear end of said base portion to facilitate sliding motion of said rear member toward said front member while opposing sliding motion of said rear member away from said front member.