Pop-Up Books

I came across this site describing the history of Pop-up Books. Now, those who know me well, know that I love books – and pop-up books are a particular weakness of mine.

I have been collecting them for a little while. Most of them are from the 1980s and later – for example – Jan Pienkowski’s Robot. Actually, I think that that is the book that got me started. Along the way, I’ve been collecting Nick Bantock’s series of Nursery Rhymes and books for the "older" reader such as the Pop-Up Book of Phobias. I don’t have any examples earlier than about 1950 – the one book that I have using the mechanisms of Lothar Meggendorfer is a 20th Century reproduction with a foreword by Maurice Sendak.

I do like the creations by Ron van den Meer – who has worked on a series of education books such as The Architecture Pack, The Art Pack and the Brain Pack. I have refused to acquire The Parascience Pack because I refuse to support Uri Geller’s pseudoscience rubbish.

But at the moment, I think one of the foremost paper engineers working in this field has to be Robert Sabuda. His Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland are magnificent examples of their kind.