Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn

Featuring: Moderne Technik

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

 How better to explain the workings of a locomotive, a steam engine, an automobile motor, or a pumping system than by using a series of flaps that, when opened gradually, reveal the inner workings of these complex machines? Moderne Technik provides a comprehensive view of the workings of the latest technological advances used in transportation and machines for industrial manufacturing of the early 20th century.

—Stephen Van Dyk

Moderne Technik. [Moderne technology]. Hans Blücher. Leipzig and Vienna: Bibliographisches Institut, 1912.

In Case You Missed It ...

Recent lecture by "Pop-Up Lady" Ellen Rubin is now available:

 

—Elizabeth Periale

Chuck Fischer Lecture Today!

The Libraries presents the second lecture in a new series that explores the history, artistry, design and construction of pop-up and movable books.

Held in conjunction with Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn, our ongoing exhibition in the Libraries' gallery located in the National Museum of American History, the series features movable book historians, pop-up artists and designers, and paper engineers.

Please watch our Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn blog for future announcements. Join us TODAY for:

Chuck Fischer

Creating a Pop-Up Book and The Enduring Appeal Of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol

December 1, 2010

12:00pm-1:00pm

Carmichael Auditorium

National Museum of American History

Washington, D.C.

Chuck Fischer (top) is a leading author and designer who has taken his unique painting style and effortlessly transferred his signature look to various home furnishings, products, and books, making his remarkable artistry available to a wide audience. Fischer’s work is in the permanent collection of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City and in the Libraries' exhibition, Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop, & Turn at the National Museum of American History.

On November 10, 2010, Fischer’s latest pop-up book, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol: A Pop-Up by Chuck Fischer was published by Little, Brown and Company. Along with the book, Fischer launched interactive apps for the iPad: A Christmas Carol and Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Fischer's book, Christmas in New York: A Pop-Up Book has become a perennial holiday favorite, chosen as one of USA Today’s Top Ten holiday books for 2007. In The Beginning: The Art of Genesis was published in 2008, and Angels: A Pop-Up Book (bottom) was chosen by the Metropolitan Museum of Art to be featured in their Holiday 2010 catalog. 2010 marks the fourth year Fischer has been honored with the commission to create the annual holiday card for The White House Historical Association.

The lecture on this afternoon will be followed by a book signing event for Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol: A Pop-Up by Chuck Fischer.

For event inquiries, contact Susan Frampton, framptons@si.edu.

—Liz O'Brien and Elizabeth Periale

 

Related articles

• First edition of Christmas Carol to fetch £200,000 at auction (telegraph.co.uk)

The Libraries Announces a Series of Pop-Up and Movable Books Lectures

Ellen Rubin, foreground, at the Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop and Turn exhibition opening reception.

In conjunction with our ongoing exhibition in the National Museum of American History, Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn, the Libraries is hosting a series of pop-up and movable books lectures. People of all ages are welcome to attend.

Our first speaker is Ellen Rubin, also known as the “Pop-Up Lady.” She will give a talk on Wednesday, November 10, at 12:00 p.m. in the National Museum of American History’s Carmichael Auditorium. Her lecture is titled, “A History of Pop-up and Movable Books: 700 Years of Paper Engineering.” Read her bio below, and stay tuned for more lecture announcements!

Ellen G. K. Rubin discovered pop-up and movable books when she began reading them to her sons over 25 years ago. Today, she has more than 6,500 books and thousands of uncataloged movable ephemera. While at Yale Medical School’s Physican Associate program in 1987, she attended the Sterling Library’s exhibition on the history of movable books. It was there that she learned about the scholarly dimensions of her passion.

Ellen now lectures and writes about her books, conducts workshops, and curates exhibitions. In 2000, she co-curated Brooklyn Pops Up! The History and Art of the Movable Book at the Brooklyn Public Library. In 2005, two exhibitions from her collection were mounted. The first was at the Bienes Museum in Ft. Lauderdale, FL of the work of Vojtěch Kubašta, the Czech artist and paper engineer. Its catalog, with a pop-up, won an ARLIS award. The second was the exhibition, Ideas in Motion: The History and Art of the Movable Book held at the Sojourner Truth Library at SUNY-New Paltz. In 2004, Pitspopany Press published Ellen’s The Hanukkah Puzzle Book: A Book in Eight Parts for Eight Days of Fun! Ms. Rubin has appeared on The Martha Stewart Show, CBS Sunday Morning, and Japanese Public TV presenting the history of pop-up books from her collection. She is a charter member of the Movable Book Society and writes for their newsletter and is a member of the Grolier Club. Ellen hosts her website, The Pop-Up Lady. to disseminate information on the subject.

—Liz O'Brien

Related articles

• Grimm's Rumpelstiltskin brings the pop-up book experience to your iPad (thenextweb.com)
• Popville: popup book cleverly and delightfully illustrates the growth of a town (boingboing.net)