Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn

Featuring: Neue lebende Bilder: ein Ziehbilderbuch

Featuring a title from the Libraries' pop-up book collection and current exhibition, Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn.

 Lothar Meggendorfer, a Munich graphic designer, illustrated and engineered more than two hundred pop-up and movable books. Beginning in the 1870s, he created a series of intricate and amusing illustrated pull-tab books, having developed a complex system of multiple levers that when manipulated caused figures to move at the same time on the page surface. Neue lebende Bilder: ein Ziehbilderbuch, like many of his living pictures series of this time, consists of a series of familiar yet amusing figures that move when the pull tab is pulled. A girl draws water from a well, a painter a portrait on an easel, women wash clothes, a musician plays a cello, a butcher chops meat, and a dog is taught a new trick.

—Stephen Van Dyk

Neue lebende Bilder: ein Ziehbilderbuch [New living pictures: A pull-picture-book]. Illustrations and paper engineering by Lothar Meggendorfer. Verlag von Braun & Schneider, c.1880.

 

Featuring: Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper

Featuring a title from the Libraries' pop-up book collection and current exhibition, Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn.

Dean & Son, a British publisher produced a large number of movable books from the 1840s through 1880s introducing innovative cut-paper and pull tab mechanisms. In the 1850s, Dean created their “New Scenic Books” series of which Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper is an example. As the story is being read, cut-paper illustrated forms connected by ribbon are unfolded giving the appearance that they are popping up from the page surface. This work contains several such pop-up stage set illustrations that dramatically enhance this well-known fairy tale.—Stephen Van Dyk

Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper. London: Dean & Son, c.1850.

 

Featuring: Inside the Personal Computer

Featuring a title from the Libraries' pop-up book collection and current exhibition, Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn.

Ron van der Meer, a Dutch paper engineer living England, studied graphic design before exploring the world of pop-up books. Van der Meer, having created more than 100 pop-ups, first worked with Wally Hunt at Intervisual Communications in California to create his first pop-ups in the early 1980s.

Inside the Personal Computer: An Illustrated Introduction in 3 Dimensions: A Pop-Up Guide, like many van der Meer’s works, is a fine example of a pop-up book that is informative and geared to adults. The intricate box-like forms of the personal computer unfold dramatically from the page surface with attention given to even the smaller details of the machine (including the floppy disk!).—Stephen Van Dyk

Inside the Personal Computer: An Illustrated Introduction in 3 Dimensions: A Pop-Up Guide. Text by Sharon Gallagher. Paper engineering and design by Ron van der Meer. New York: Abbeville Press, 1984.

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Paper Engineering Lecture Series

Top: Angels: a pop-up book [illustrations by] Chuck Fischer; text by Curtis Flowers; paper engineering by Bruce Foster.

Bottom: Yellow square: a pop-up book for children of all ages, by David A. Carter.

The Libraries will be hosting a series of lectures to accompany its current exhibition at the National Museum of American History, Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn.

Save the date on your calendar for these sure-to-be-fascinating talks about pop-ups from some of the leading artists in the field:

Ellen Rubin, aka the “Pop-up Lady”—"A History of Pop-up and Movable Books: 700 Years of Paper Engineering," Wednesday November 10, 2010, Carmichael Auditorium, National Museum pf American History, 12th street and Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, D.C., 12 noon.

Chuck Fischer, Wednesday Dec 1, 2010, Carmichael Auditorium, National Museum pf American History, 12th street and Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, D.C., 12 noon. There will also be a book signing.

David Carter, Saturday April 16, 2011, Carmichael Auditorium, National Museum pf American History, 12th street and Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, D.C., 12 noon. There will also be a book signing.

Stay tuned for additional lectures and dates to be announced!

—Elizabeth Periale

Featuring: One Red Dot

Featuring a title from the Libraries' pop-up book collection and current exhibition, Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn.

California-based children’s author and illustrator David Carter has created numerous colorful pop-up and movable books, beginning in the late 1980’s with a series featuring insects. Carter masterfully encourages the reader to discover— whether learning to count or finding something hidden in the book while, at the same time, experiencing the joy of surprise as figures pop-up off the page surface. One Red Dot consists of a series of pop-ups in which a red dot is hidden. The bold graphics and intricate sculptural forms truly make this book a portable work of art.—Stephen Van Dyk

One Red Dot. One red dot: a pop-up book for children of all ages. David A. Carter. New York: Little Simon, 2005, c2004.

Related:

New and Notable: Yellow Square

PopUps!

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Featuring: Tony Sarg’s Surprise Book: Look, Listen, Smell, Taste and Feel

Featuring a title from the Libraries' pop-up book collection and current exhibition, Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn.

Tony Sarg was a German-American puppeteer and illustrator who created designs for the large balloons used in the 1928 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and later, in the 1930s, he decorated Macy’s display windows. He illustrated a series of pop-up and flap books, notably Where’s Tommy (1932), Tony Sarg’s treasure book (1942), and this work. Tony Sarg’s Surprise Book: Look, Listen, Smell, Taste and Feel encourages children to experience the five senses—to listen, feel, taste, smell, and view. Included is a colorful volvelle (or wheel) that can be turned as it illustrates the nursery rhythm “The Cow jumps over the moon”.

—Stephen Van Dyk

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