Ok, so who doesn’t still love children’s books, whatever your age? I still enjoy looking through the pages of my old Babar books and, of course, Winnie the Pooh, where there are some very wise words to glean, so I was very excited to see that we have a great collection of pop up books and moveables in the forthcoming auction of Antiquarian books on 20th February 2013 at the Dowell Street Saleroom in Honiton, East Devon.
Moveable books were originally designed for adults rather than children. It is thought that the first moveable mechanics were used in a book in 1306 for an astrological book.
The techniques used for pop up books and moveable books has been used for centuries, but mainly for scholarly books, rather than for entertainment and fun.
It wasn’t until 18th Century that these were developed for children and for fun and were extremely popular during the 19th Century, but it wasn’t until the early 20th Century that things really changed. During the 20th Century, pop up books literally popped up everywhere.
The pop up books on offer in the Children’s and Illustrated section of the Antiquarian book auction are in a few lots and are all in excellent condition.
The first of these is an unusual collection of pop-up books (BK9/76), of various shapes and sizes, all in excellent and unused condition. Some of the titles include The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore, with illustrations by Penny Ives, dated 1988, and a pop-up Winnie-The-Pooh, with decorations after the style of Ernest H Shepard. The estimate on this fun lot in the Antiquarian book auction, which includes twenty one volumes in total is £50-£80.
A selection of the pop-up books on offer in the Antiquarian Book Auction.
Another super example is The Model Menagerie by the German publisher Ernest Nister (BK9/90), dating from circa 1900. This novel picture book of wild animals consists of six intricate 3D pop-ups. It is in nice fresh condition with highly decorative boards. I will be looking for bids between £100-£160.
The Model Menagerie
There are many other great children’s books in this Antiquarian book auction to be held at our salerooms on 20th February 2013 in Dowell Street, Honiton, East Devon.
I look forward to seeing many of you there!
