History Of Pop up Books

It’s no secret that the staff here at childrensbookstore.com has an affinity towards popup books. We love them because Pop up books are fun, educational and unique. In fact, both children and adults enjoy pop up books for their delightful, three-dimensional presentation of knowledge and whimsy.

What few people know about pop-up books is their long and interesting history. The modern children’s Popup book is the product of nearly eight centuries of progress.

Because the book is a two dimensional medium the challenge and opportunity to transcend beyond the status quo has pushed pop up book artists to develop creative ways to capture the elusive third dimension from their seemingly nonnegotiable, fixed book format. For 700 years the evolution of the pop up book has taken the form of adding flaps, revolving parts, movable text and a multitude of other methods devised by creative artists and publishers for both educational and entertainment purposes.

Early pop up books were devised as inventive methods to illustrate information. The earliest known use of the “mechanical book” was to illustrate the philosophical theories of Ramon Llull (c1235-1316) of Majorca, a Catalán poet and mystic, in a “vovelle” or round paper discs mounted inside of a book. Llull devised his complicated mechanical vovelle that helped express his hierarchy of truth. He believed that is all knowledge could be condensed and organized into a single system then we could understand the universe and we could understand God. Very ambitious for a pop up book!

Throughout the long history of the modern pop up book volvelles have been used for all sorts of purposes some of which are; making astronomical predictions, creating secret code, navigation, telling fortunes and teaching anatomy.

Pop up books were especially helpful in the study of anatomy. Book producers used separate pages and leaves to illustrate layers of human tissue, bone and circulation systems. Andreas Vesalius’ book, De humani corpis fabrica librorumepitome made in 1543 featured movable illustrations where anatomy was broken down into seven distinct layers.

Robert Sayer a London book publisher in the 1800’s began the odyssey of creating popup books for children. His “metamorphoses” books entertained children with images of animals and pastoral scenes. They were also called “turn-up” books. The moving images helped maintain the readers’ interest as the illustrations changed with the progress of the story. "Metamorphoses" books were made of sheets folded in half and half again. They were hinged at the folds and the image was cut through its middle to make two flaps to be opened. An image was beneath the flaps along with some text. They were an image beneath an image.

Dean & Son was the first producer on the scene to make quantities of high pop-up books commercially available. Dean & Son, a London based publishing house, started before 1800 and by 1860 declared themselves the “originator of children’s’ movable books”. Their characters could be moved in synchronization of the plotline of the book. They were prolific producers of these books until 1900.

The production of these books was tasked to Dean & Sons’ team of skilled paper engineers. They called their books “handmade mechanicals”. They utilized the idea of scenes that were cut out to give the illusion of a three dimensional image when the reader pulled the tab to reveal elements germane to the storyline.

Raphael Tuck was the person to give Dean & Son real competition. Tuck produced a series of moving books titled “Father Tuck’s Mechanical Series”. They had standup items and characters that three dimensional elements. They were printed in Germany and assembled in London. Germany simply had the finest technology in printing.

A German 19th century publisher who created memorable popup books was Ernest Nister.  Starting in 1890 his books began a new trend in popup book technology. His pop up books had figures that were die cut and mounted on the three dimensional platform. His pages, as they were turned, presented the viewer with figures and characters that lifted off the surface of the page. Nister also made books with slats that moved to reveal different images.

Of the 19^th century pop-up books the most unique had to be the titles developed by Munich based Lothar Meggendorfer. His complex creations used tiny rivets that allowed the movable portions of the book to be manipulated any way. His books had enormous potential for movement because of his revolutionary sensibility for freedom.

On the American front, the McLoughlin Brothers of New York were the first to create American movable books. Their 1880’s series the “Little Showman’s Series” contained multi-layered displays that were both large and colorful.

World war II proved to be a slow time in the development of pop up books. German printers were tasked to contribute to the war effort.

English publisher S. Louis Giraud made popup books starting in 1929. His books called “living models” were the closest predecessors to our current pop-up book technology. His books had two page spreads that popped up when the pages were opened. They were well received because they were inexpensive. Giraud used inexpensive paper and binding. His books were quite popular at the time.

The first book termed “pop-up” was made in the throes of the American great depression in the 1930’s. Blue Ribbon Publishing based in New York took Walt Disney characters and make pop up books about  them. The McLoughlin Brothers came on the pop up book scene in 1939 with the title Jolly Jump-up.

Julian Wehr, an American artist made significant advances in the field of pop up books. His tab driven designs were exciting movable illustrations that moved not only up and down but side to side as well. On the cover of Finnie the Fiddler his book said “You can really make them move, watch them play, dance, talk!”. Such was the copy written to attract buyers of the books.

By the mid 1960’s in America the Popup book industry had blossomed with Graphics International, an LA based company with pop up elements in magazines and other printer materials. Eventually Graphics International moved their operations to New York and produced books for Random House, a major American publisher.

Today’s players in the Pop up book category are Hallmark, Itervisual, Compass, White Heat, Van der Meer paper design and Designamation. There are hundreds of pop up book titles presently available and many of them are to be found on our website.  

Paper engineers are the genius behind the mechanics of a modern pop up book for kids. They take the concepts given to them from the writers and designers and make them work. The way an element pops up and the way it lays back down are both big issues to tackle. Todays paper engineers are expected to deliver both an exciting and functional book that can be sold at a reasonable profit. Some pop up books include such elements as sound, other props and miniature books that enhance the readers experience. The places an illustration joins the page to be animated and precise cuts required are parts of the paper engineers job.

For centuries the popup books were designed and manufactured in one location. The modern economy allows for pop up books to be designed by creatives in New York and produced in factories all over the world, including Mexico, Singapore and Columbia. Because of the custom nature of a pop up book the manufacturing process requires extensive handwork.  

The future of pop up books is bright. Seven centuries of development have laid a strong foundation for todays artists. Check out our section on highlighted artists and learn about their techniques. Many people enjoy creating their own pop up books. We have books in our arts and craft section of the site that teach how to do this. We are proud to offer the finest pop up books available today. Our hope is that you will enjoy your purchases of pop up books and learn to appreciate them along with us at childrensbookstore.com.