Movable stationery

MOVABLE

STATIONERY

VOLUME 11

N UMB E R 4

NOVEMBER

2003

Diogenes from Antwerp
A publisher of Kubasta books in Belgium

Francis de Geest
Belgium
Adding another chapter to the modest history of pop-
up publishing in Belgium, after my contribution on Jos.
Lefebvre published in the last issue of the Movable
Stationery1, I write now about another series of pop-up
books that were published here at the same time in the
early 1960s. Again it concerns titles designed by the
beloved Czech illustrator and paper engineer Vojtech
Kubasta. This time they are the ones that were published
in the Dutch versions under the imprint of the Antwerp
publisher Diogenes p.v.b.a.2

Tekeningen door V, Kubasta

voor DIOGENES p. v. b. a., Antwerpen

© 1962 ARTlA Prague

By good fortune I succeeded in locating the publisher
of Diogenes, Ms. Marie-Louise Neirinck, who still lives in
Antwerp. She had to be convinced to tell the story of her
publishing activities in the field of pop-up books since she
thought that part of her life to be of a bygone age. Unlike
Mr. Lefebvre, who only wondered who on earth would be
interested in the story of his life as a publisher of movable
books, Ms. Neirinck had to be called several times before
she agreed to see me for an interview. Once I finally met
her, she proved to be a vivid and self-assured elderly lady
gifted with a phenomenal memory.3

Although Ms. Neirinck spent almost all of her working
life in Antwerp, she was born in 1923 in Lokeren, a small
town in the province of East-Flanders. Having been an
avid reader as a child, she knew early in her life that she
wanted to make a living out of her love, the book business.
Unfortunately, the second world war broke out before she
finished high school so she had to wait until the war
finished before she got the opportunity to realize that
desire. To get the best professional education she left
Belgium for Holland and worked for two years, from mid-
1945 onward, in two well-established bookstores in The
Hague: Mensing & Visser and Van Stockum. She then
returned to Lokeren and started her own bookstore
"Uilenspiegel" (Owlglass), named after the protagonist

Cinderella

Tijl Uilenspiegel

known for his

beloved pieces of

knavery as told in

traditional Flemish

folktales. Lokeren,

however, appears

not to have been

that interested in

the kind of literary

bookshop Ms.

Neirinck

established and, as a result, she decided after a try of three

years, to move to the city of Antwerp. She there opened her

new bookshop, changing the name from the popular Flemish

rascal to that of the solid classical Greek philosopher

"Diogenes." But changing the place alone did not prove to

solve her inner needs: just selling the books that publishers

offered, didn't bring her enough satisfaction. What she

wanted was to offer good books to the public herself. So in

March 1951 she started the publishing house of Diogenes

located at 5 Lange Leemstraat (near the National Bank) in

Antwerp. Other publishers were kindly disposed towards the

lady just starting out, especially the large Dutch publishing

house of Meulenhoff Amsterdam that helped her overcome

the usual problems of a new publisher.

Where or how
Ms. Neirinck was
first confronted with
the - for Belgium
new - phenomenon
of pop-up books
(then mostly called
"panorama books"
here), she doesn't
remember. However,
she does remember
that she happened to
contact, through
colleagues in the publishing business, the same
representative of Artia, Prague that we met before in our
interviews with Mr. Lefebvre (unfortunately neither of them
remember the man's name). This mysterious "man from
Utrecht in the Netherlands," appears to have been a clever
salesman as in the very same year (1960) he is known to
have sold a series of the same Kubasta titles to both
Lefebvre and later that year to Diogenes.

Continued on page 2

Hansel and Gretel

The Movable Book Society

ISSN: 1097-1270
Movable Stationery is the quarterly publication of the
Movable Book Society. Letters and articles from members
on relevant subjects are welcome. The annual membership
fee for the society is $20.00. For more information
contact: Ann Montanaro, Movable Book Society, P.O. Box
1 1654, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08906 USA.

Daytime telephone: 732-445-5896

Evening telephone: 732-247-6071

e-mail: montanar@rci.rutgers.edu

Fax: 732-445-5888

The deadline for the next issue is February 15.
Diogenes, continued from page 1

Even more remarkable since the sales conditions of Artia
were lucrative only for Artia themselves: they only
accepted orders for large quantities, they had to be paid
cash on delivery, etc. Nevertheless, Ms. Neirinck decided
to take the risk and she ordered six titles from the fairy
tale series: Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Hansel
and Gretel, The Sleeping Beauty, Puss in Boots, and
Cinderella. They all appeared with the Diogenes imprint
in 1960. In the early versions they had linen spines, a
movable element in the front covers and eight double
spreads inside. All these first Diogenes editions are in my
collection:

Roodkapje 1960 |Nr.j 721/5

Sneeuwwitje 1960 722/6

Hans en Grietje 1960 723/4

Doornroosje 1960 724/4

De Gelaarsde Kat 1960 725/5

Assepoester 1960 726/4

When we
look at the list of
numbers and the
codes of the
editions we learn
a lot about the
way the Prague-
based publisher
of Artia worked.
The first figure
of the number
(here 7 for the
700s) marks the language in which the book was
published, in this case the Dutch. For the German editions
the 200s were in use; for the English the 300s; for the
French ones the 400s, etc. The next are a kind of book
number, for example, in any language Little Red Riding

Sleeping Beauty

Hood, has number 23, etc. The figure after the forward slash
counts the printings of the title within the same language.

When we compare the list of these Diogenes editions
with the list of 1960 editions published by Lefebvre, we see,
that the Little Red Riding Hood has the number 72 1/2 with
Lefebvre where it has 721/5 with Diogenes. It means both
that no title appears to have been given exclusively to one
publisher in the country or language area; and that in the
same year there were at least two more editions (721/3 and
721/4) printed for the Dutch market! Hansel and Gretel by
Diogenes has the number 723/4 where the Lefebvre printing
had 723/2, proving there were at least three printings of this
title in I960.4 Thus we get a glimpse of the huge success the
Kubasta books had in those early days of their appearance.5

How many copies
of one title Diogenes
had to order Mrs.
Neirinck doesn't
remember anymore
and the remaining
parts of her
publisher's archive
do not give a
decisive answer.
There also is no
external evidence
since there never
has been, so far as I know, anything published about the
number of copies in a printing of the Kubasta books. She
remembers, however, that she needed to rent an extra
storage shed in the Antwerp harbor area to stock the
delivered quantity of copies before their distribution.6

The books were retailed partly through the regular
bookshops, but a larger part were sold through newsstands,
railway bookstalls, and other outlets of newspapers and
magazines. Diogenes, therefore, worked with
Persagentschap (Press-agency) a company that was
responsible for the countrywide distribution of the books to
these selling points. Ms. Neirinck was not clear whether she
contracted with this company before deciding to take the
large orders from Artia, or whether Diogenes had to take the
risk (and the investments) on its own. The books sold for 45
Belgian franks (nowadays the equivalent of one Euro or
about $1.15) a copy, and they sold very well! The sales
success increased further when the then young national
television BRT featured the new phenomenon of pop-up
books during the national Antwerp Book fair that year.

Continued on page 12

Little Red Riding Hood

Ted Naos: Artist and Designer

Eleanor Heldrich
Lutherville, Maryland

Our interview began in a nondescript building in
southwest Baltimore, Maryland. Nondescript except for a
large arched doorway, painted bright blue. The building,
it turned out, had been the home of a two-story, 1920s era
Kresge's Five and Ten Cent Store, a location that works
perfectly for its current owner, Ted Naos. We entered a
very long open room stacked with boxes on both sides.
There were boxes with printing paper, cards and card
parts, envelopes, acetate, metallic moire paper sheets,
there were even boxes to hold boxes. Stacks of printing
papers with future movable parts printed on them were
stored with mailing supplies, and piles of die cut sheets
waiting to be trimmed.

In the front of the room were tables where three young
women were working at three different jobs. One was
pulling off the trims from die-cut lengths of paper.
Another was packaging calendars in clear plastic boxes
and the other was answering the phone. At the very back
of the room was an offset printing machine. The wall
behind the press was floor-to-ceiling shelving with cans of
printing inks. Sounds of a machine starting up came
through a window in the door at the back of the room. As
we walked in to watch an operator running the die-cut
machine was cranking out sheets of white paper with the
skyline of Chicago stamped out along the top edge. Also
in this room were hundreds of dies stacked against the
wall in layers, each die approximately 18" by 12" to fit the
machine.

Christmas Cards by Ted Naos

You may have seen some of Ted Naos' work in
museum shops and catalogs. He produces many movable
Christmas cards for the Art Institute of Chicago, The
Museum of Modern Art and many other museums and
specialty catalogs. He recently designed a popular stand-
up Nativity Scene for the Art Institute. This scene and all
of his cards are printed on high quality white cover stock
with a vellum finish. All of the paper he uses is re-cycled.

Among his other works is a three-fold card of the wise
men arriving in Bethlehem with two free-moving metallic
silvery stars inserted into the scene. Another card appears as
a cathedral window with an angel inside, but it opens to a
dome with the angel flying in the center. A new card for this
year has a blue background with flying white doves on fold-
out acetates. In another very complicated one, an entire town
opens up with inset gold and silver trees. Several cards have
cut out skylines of different cities - Chicago, San Francisco,
Manhattan.

- T3

i ■!

H n if i -III R V n nnn:

tti

-* li r ;i * [ j * * i

Die cutting block
with blade side showing

Ted also produces mobiles, calendars with adjustable
color backgrounds, and small puzzle games for children.
One game called the Color Game has 20 brightly colored
cards with die-cut patterns to be arranged and rearranged
into different color combinations, reminiscent of the Marilyn
Eastus' book Woof.

Ted Naos is first and foremost an architect but he is also
a designer. Born in Athens, Greece, he came to the United
States when he was 18 years old. He attended college in
Texas and finished up at Columbia in New York. Today he
is a professor of Architecture at The Catholic University of
America in Washington, D.C., teaching the design of
architecture. It is because of his architectural training that he
sees the designs of his three-dimensional greeting cards as
another way of dealing with space — the composition of
space and the beauty of space. All of his greeting cards and
paper constructions have elements that design space and
communicate a message.

His first cards were all white on white in order to use the
beauty of the paper and to define the spaces, but he continues
to add other materials and colors — not to detract from the
beauty of the paper, but to see how to integrate these new
materials into the designs. He wants to see what develops,
not to become stagnant, but to continue to discover new
relationships and images. With his paper sculptures, as he
adds background panels, see-through planes, colors and
interlocking parts, he is using these new elements, like
instruments in an orchestra, to create beautiful visual
melodies.

Continued on page 4

Naos, continued from page 3

We had an enjoyable visit. I took a few movable books
from my collection to show him what the Movable Book
Society is all about. "She has an obsession for these
books," he told his staff who also came to see them. He is
familiar with the work of many paper engineers and was
interested to see an artists' book created by Ed Hutchins.
I found it fascinating, and possibly unique, that his entire
operation is done in one building — design, drawing the
schematic plans, building the dies, working the printing

Die cut card by Ted Naos

press, trimming, folding, packaging the products, and
mailing them out to the customers.

A Pop-up Mystery and Its Solution

Roy C. Dicks

A few weeks ago, while indulging in one of my other
obsessions - movies on DVD - I was just settling in to
watch "Sunday, Bloody Sunday," the 1971 John
Schlesinger drama about a modern love triangle, when,
about 18 minutes into the film, I had the sudden shock of
seeing a pop-up book as part of the scene. Glenda Jackson
is questioning her lover (Murray Head) about his activities
outside their relationship. While he is listening to her, he
casually picks up a book (they have been baby-sitting for
the weekend for friends) and flips it open to a center
double-spread pop, examines it, plays with it and then
closes the book back.

Of course, I was curious about which book it might be.
The scene is shot so that the viewer sees face of the actor
as he holds the book up; thus the viewer is seeing the pop-
up from the back. The pop-up is a large, fanciful castle
with several layers of towers and turrets.

I did not recognize it, so I used the handy pause and
frame-by-frame functions of the DVD player to try reading

motion examinations (complete with a Sherlockian
magnifying glass up against the TV screen), I could not
make out the title, as the film's focus was not on the book
but the actor. I tried watching the credits for some reference
to the book (thanking the publisher for allowing its use) but
there was none.

I assumed the book was one that actually had been
published, as it seemed so well done and intricate (why go to
the trouble to make up a pop-up book for such a minor
moment?) I could just make out a big circle on the front
cover that surrounded the outline of a big castle. So I started
thinking, what standard stories featuring a big castle would
have been a likely candidate for a pop-up, especially pre-
1971? Sleeping Beauty? King Arthur? Beauty and the Beast?

I went to my copies of Ann Montanaro's pop-up
bibliographies to see if I could come across titles that might
be right, but to no avail. Undaunted, and determined to
figure it out (by myself), I looked once more at the images on
the DVD. It was then that I noticed that the castle was
mostly green in color - and then it hit me: Oz and the
Emerald City.

I went back to Ann's bibliographies and found there were
only a few Wizard of Oz pop-ups before 1971. The most
likely suspect was the 1968 Random House edition authored
by Albert G. Miller and designed by Paul Taylor. When I
looked at the book's image on screen once again, I

immediately recognized
the shape and pattern of
the Random House
bindings of that era and
was 90% certain I had
found the right one.

On a hunch, I went
online to MBS member
Carolyn Lily's website,
The Wonderful World of
Pop-up and Animated
Books
(www.popupbooks.net)
and found the title (by
the author index) and
there it was: the cover
and a picture of the pop-up castle, exactly as it is in the film!

Besides being smug about my detection skills (and, yes,
I know many of you would have recognized it right away
from having it in your collections), I was once again struck
by the wonderful resources we have about pop-ups and
movables, both in print and online.

the cover and/or the spine. Even with a number of slow-

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Do-it-yourself Movables:
An Instruction From 1869

Theo Gielen
The Netherlands
When studying the history of movable books one
sometimes finds things that only obliquely touch the
researched subject. Catchpenny prints by Meggendorfer
are recognized to mirror plates in his movable books; an
unfolding paper toy cradle by Nister; a plain picture book
as a later edition of an earlier movable book; an
illustration of a bookshop in a picture book showing
almost hidden advertising for Dean's movable books; the
description, in a textbook, of the presents that a child is
given at Christmas and amongst them a pop-up book
(published by the same publisher), etc. I gather them in a
file named "movable curios." One of them, however, I
would like to share here with the readership of Movable
Stationery since it gives a nice look into early paper
engineering to make movable pictures.

DE KL1PE mUniKrxiME

imsmsukjs. in: nr s.vrtros-EK ivHtwuroti'stii

IIKO&INH JUS,

*rsvni> iii: i W.AIU1. khaiTKXfiKlGin.

urn** r«: iiqatirtl
t'4jmi iv -.1'inil.Ti'i ir\, kMlljii7ha»i MJMirjitfc

\LfMst.mi »i.nii>«. Fmumifiin rishwim. h<i»*4i*. iiua.e

KlOli HIT ri5KSTESMA3W!P»

'.!. \ A?f S^M)«'|tK,

r. itEti

*IT It t)KIMIN mtlv

ILIUtl.

r nwiievts >rawqi.

It was found in a Dutch book with the extremely long
title De Kleine Natuurkundige of Uitspanningen, die op
natuur- en werktuigkunde gegrondzijn, benevens kunstjes
met water, licht en geluid, waaraan zijn toegevoegd
bordspelen, goocheltoeren, onderhoudende bezigheden,
vermakelijke rekenkunst, strikvragen, pandspelen,
raadsels, aardige uitspraak, rijmpjes voor het qftellen,
kniespelen en kinderliedjes. ' Written -or better: compiled
- by Mr. P. Beets who adds that he has brought all this
together for Mr. G. van Sandwijk's "Prentenmagazijn," a
well-known children's magazine. The book was published

in Leiden by Dirk Noothoven van Goor in 1869 and had 16
color plates printed on one side only. It is in a short chapter
on "The cutting of figures" that first instructs how to cut and
fold little paper furniture and a colorful flower out of paper
of different colors and then continues:

"In the old time, before the invention of the art of
photography, some people made a profession out of the
imitation of the contours of the faces of other people
(shadow-graphs, silhouettes). Cut out of black paper by
means of scissors they were glued with gum on a white
paper. By occasion you may have seen such portraits, for
example of your grandparents or great-aunts. However, the
photography art has pushed aside that industry of earlier
times completely by now. At the stationer's the so-called
shadow-graphs can be bought for little money. They are, as
you may know, black figures on a white background that can
be cut out. Will these little puppets have to be moveable, the
arms and legs will have to be cut out separately and
subsequently attached to the required places of the body by
means of a string. On both sides of the paper one then ties a
well connecting knot. Just a little behind the string around
which the limb now moves, there shall be fastened either a
bit of string or a slip of stiff paper; by these the arms, legs
and head, or the complete figure can be moved to and fro.
Instead of giving here a circumstantial description of these
moveable figures it will be better for you to have a close look
at the images that show such figures both from the front and
from the back."2

Continued on page 6

My Three Favorites

Roy C. Dicks

Raleigh, North Carolina

In the August 2003 issue of Movable Stationery, Adie
Pefia threw out the challenge to me to write the next
column on "My Three Favorite Pop-ups." I gladly accept
but assert the right to change it a bit to make it easier, not
only for me but for other members in future columns.

pLusnsFruin
J& A CURD'S GARDEN

C&JC lilti^ohn

Poems from a Child's
Garden of Verses

I do this because, in the
four columns published so
far, each of the writers
(Henk Sikkema, Carolyn
Lilly, Ellen Rubin and
Adie) have all had to go
through great soul-
searching and self-
limitation before listing
their three choices. The
general form of this angst
has been to discuss the
numerous titles the writer
is NOT going to talk
about, often in great detail,
and then to set up strict
guidelines for the choices
(only paper mechanicals,
only those you first show to visitors, etc.) In addition,
when listing the three (or in Ellen's case 10!), the writer
still finds it necessary to name others within each choice.

Of course, we can all sympathize with these writers'
dilemmas in trying to narrow down from such a wide
range. So I hereby change the rules to make the challenge
be the selection of three favorite (fill in the appropriate
category) pop-ups. This will allow a writer to focus on
aspect or type, such as Christmas, dinosaurs, circuses,
Disney, Mother Goose, etc. Since I am going to be brief
and only write about three books in a category, I am
choosing two groups to set the example.

My Three Favorites to Show Newbies

Whenever I tell anyone that I collect pop-up books and
then see them register signs of doubt or disdain, I show
them the following three books:

1 . Sailing Ships - Concept, design and layout by Ron van
der Meer, paper engineering by John Strejan and David
Rosendale (1 984). This is the book that first got me started
collecting pop-ups as an adult. The whole book is
beautifully illustrated, with informative texts, but it's the
wonderful way that each ship's pop is conceived
differently that really impresses. Of course, I always start
with the galleon pop because it never fails to get a reaction

- 10" tall, 10" wide, with three full sails, rigging and flags.
Since it stands up out of the center, it is fully three-
dimensional and can be viewed from all sides. Magnificent.

2. The Earth in Three Dimensions - by Keith Lye, conceived
and designed by Electric Paper, paper engineering by David
Hawcock (1994). Yes, it's somewhat of a one-trick pony, but
when people see the totally round globe of the world pop-up
and SPIN, free-floating, there are always gasps. The "wow"
factor is about as high as its gets.

3 . Greg Hildebrandt 's Book of Three-Dimensional Dragons

- Design and paper engineering by Keith Moseley (1994).
The vivid colors, the fanciful drawing, and above all, the
dramatic movement and size of each dragon pop always
draws oohs and aahs. I especially like the head and tail of
the Chinese Dragon (the final pop) which extend well
beyond the top and bottom of the book.

If these don't turn the doubters around, nothing will.

My Three Favorite Pop-ups with Unusual Perspectives

I find that one of things that really catches my eye in a
pop-up book is when the designer puts my gaze into an
unexpected perspective. Here are three that always grab me:

1. Poems From A Child's Garden of Verses - illustrations
and paper engineering by Claire Littlejohn (1987). This is a
small, relatively simple book and yet there are two pops in
it that always delight me. The first is the one where the little
boy has climbed up into a cherry tree to see beyond his own
little world. The pop that has him sitting at the top of the
tree puts the viewer hovering directly above him, so all you
see is the top of his head as you look down and out from his
vantage point - enchanting. The other is the last pop, in
which a little girl is digging in the sand at the beach. When

you fully unfold the page,
three sand dunes pop up, but
to see them in their true
perspective, you have to hold
the book flat and up to eye
level - charming.

2. Jungle Adventure -
Concept, illustration and
paper engineering by Helen
Balmer (1993). Every pop of
this humorously illustrated
book is unusual. I love the
from-above perspective of the
first pop with the boy riding a
giraffe and his grandfather
riding an elephant, as well as
the high-in-the-canopy scene
with the two swinging in the

Jungle Adventure

Jack and the Beanstalk

treetops. But the best two pops are the ones that place the
viewer at the waterline, such that looking up let's you see
above water and looking down let's you see under water.
They really give you the feeling that you are seeing one of
those nature programs on TV when the diver is filming
with a waterproof camera

£ 3. Jack and the Beanstalk -

I illustration and paper

I engineering by Chuck

I Murphy (1998). Besides

I being beautifully drawn and

| colored, this book has

I several forced perspectives

I that really extend the view

I into the distance. The one

s with Jack at the top of the

beanstalk gazing at the

giant's castle in the clouds is

magical, the one of the

looming giant reaching out

for Jack as he jumps from

the table is really quite frightening, and the one where

Jack is chopping down the stalk with the giant at the far

end really makes you feel you are looking up into the sky.

The sensation I get from looking at these three is
always a heady feeling of flying.

Ok, folks, now that I've made it easy, there's no
excuse. Start working on your set(s) for Ann right away.
Don't make me have to do more of these!

The Gift

The Gift is a special
commemorative book by
Sandra Magsamen
produced by Saks Fifth
Avenue and VH1 to
celebrate the gift of
music. It has a simple
double-page pop-up on
the final pages. "The
VH1 Save The Music Foundation is a nonprofit
organization dedicated to improving the quality of
education in America's public schools by restoring music
programs." The holiday windows of the New York Saks
Fifth Avenue store feature the book and the artwork of
Sandra Magsamen. The book is available at
www.saksfifthavenue.com and costs $35.00 for the regular
hardcover edition (ISBN: 0-9721 152-6-9) or $120.00 for
the deluxe, boxed edition (ISBN: 0-9721 152-7-7.)

Awards for The Night Before Christmas

Theo Gielen

In their company magazine C&C Bulletin, issue 1,
2003 (October) the Hong Kong based Chinese company of
C&C Printing Ltd. proudly describes how they have won
several prestigious U.S. awards for the printing qualities of
Robert Sabuda's The Night Before Christmas that was
produced by them.

& C OFFSET PRINTING CO.. LTD

The book is defined as "... a work of ingenious
handicraft comprising 162 accessories of dynamic pop-ups
and unique folds, with every page hand-made and fitted with
interactive open-and-close mechanisms full of innovation
and vividness" and has been pictured in full color on three
(out of 1 4) pages of the magazine, celebrating the number of
"overseas," i.e. American, print awards won in 2003. In two
categories of the PIA's Premier Print Awards there was the
highest recognition of a Benny Award: the best of 2003
both in the category of" Die-cuts, pop-ups, unique folds, and
involvement devices" and in this of "Special Innovations -
Other"

The book got a further "Honorable Mention" in the
category oVConventional Books - Juvenile pop-up 4 color "
of the "International Gallery of Superb Printing Awards"
that are given yearly by the IAPHC, a worldwide association
of printing companies. Really sensational however proved its
choice as the Best of Show in this same IAPHC competition.
By this the exquisite craftsmanship of The Night Before
Christmas has successfully beaten more than 3,100 pieces of
other entries from all over the world....! This prestigious
election caused the CEO of C&C Joint Printing, Mr. Lo Chi
Hong, to personally travel to the U.S. to receive the Grand
Prize on August 10. This grand prize is a fine crystal trophy,
symbolizing excellence and honor for the accomplishment.

It is rather strange to see pictured in the magazine only
the slip cased (limited?) Chinese edition of The Night Before
Christmas as published by the Taipei (Taiwan) based Chase
Publishing Company. It is shown three times, as said, and
prominently featured on the front cover. Stunning, however,
is the fact that Sabuda's name has been mentioned not at all
in any of the contributions....!

Therefore, right here, congratulations to Robert for the
series of honors and awards given to his magnificent 2003
work of art.

10

Movable Reviews

Marilyn Olin
Livingston, New Jersey

1=AWFUL 2=POOR

3=O.K. 4=GOOD

5=SUPERB

A SUPER POP-UP BOOK MONTH!

page pop-ups + 17 small pop-ups which are on the mini-
pages enclosed within the book. The one wonderful tunnel
pop-up allows you to look down the rabbit hole. Similar in
design to Sabuda's Wizard ofOz this is another over-the-top
success. The illustrations by John Tenniel are delightful.
Each and every pop-up is glorious. Every page is more
exciting than the one before. The opening page of the forest,
the tea party page, the house with Alice in it, the card page,
etc. are all stunning and the bonus is that everything works
perfectly. A must have for any collector. Paper Eng.-
Phenomenal!

Rating: 4 Vl

MY GRANNY'S PURSE. By P. Hanson. Publisher:
Workman Publishing. Pub. 2001 in U.S.A. ISBN 0-7611-
2978-2. $15.95. 22 x 21 x 9 cm. 14 pages. This is not a
pop-up but definitely movable. It is a delightful recreation
of a purse, filled with all the goodies that children love to
hunt for in grandma's handbag including her polka dot
hankie. There are belongings that can be removed and
handled such as sunglasses and keys. Also, there are items
that can be opened, such as a candy box, a letter and a
mirror to look into. Young children will adore this purse.
It is "carryable," imaginative and fun. Paper Eng.-Putting
this "book" together was a publishing marvel.

Rating: 4 Vl

THE ANCIENT EGYPT POP-UP BOOK- In

association with The British Museum. By James Putnam.
I11.:N. Watton, L. Mongomery&N. Wickenden. Designed
and packaged by David Hawcock Books. Publisher:
Universe Publishing, A division of Rizzoli International
Publications, Inc. Pub. Oct., 2003 in U.S.A. ISBN 0-7893-
0985-8. $29.95. 28 lA x 28 lA cm. 14 pages. 7 double page
pop-ups + 5 others. In one intriguing pop-up you turn the
page to remove the mask on the face of a mummy. In
addition, there is a wonderful tunnel pop-up view of
Tutankhamun's tomb. The large pop-ups work extremely
well. This book features many facts about ancient Egypt
and uses artifacts and art from the British Museum. The
text is well-written and complements the elaborate pop-
ups and illustrations. This is a wonderfully engaging book
for both children and adults. Paper Eng.-Complex. The
use of the tunnel pop-up is particularly innovative.

Rating:3~r

ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. By

Robert Sabuda. 111. John Tenniel. Paper Eng.:Robert
Sabuda. Publisher: Little Simon, imprint of Simon &
Schuster Children's Pub. Div. Pub. 2003 in U.S.A. ISBN
0-689-84743-2. $24.95. 26 x 21 cm. 12 pages. 6 double

Rating: 4

THE POP-UP KAMA SUTRA. By Sir Richard Burton &
F.F. Arbuthnot. Ill.:Pop-up engineering art by Andy
Crowson. Paper Eng.:Keith Finch. Publisher: Stewart,
Tabori & Chang. Pub. 2003 in U.S.A. Produced by PRC
Pub. Ltd., England. ISBN 1-58479-302-3. $22.50. 26'/2 x 26
cm. 6 large pop-ups + many, many vintage illustrations and
excerpts. This is a 2000 year old Indian treatise on the art of
lovemaking in lively pop-up form. Definitely for adults only.
(There was a completely different Pop-up Kama Sutra
published in 1984 by Aidan Ellis Pub. Ltd. in England.
ISBN-0-85628-134-4.) Paper Eng.-Wild!

Rating: 3 /2

HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF
SECRETS: A DELUXE POP-UP BOOK. Ill.:Joe Vaux.
Paper Eng.:Dennis Meyer. Designer: Treesha Runnells.
Producer: Intervisual Books. Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Pub.2002 in USA. ISBN 0-439-45193-0. $17.95. 27 lA x 22
cm. 10 pages. No words. There are quite a few small pop-
ups, a few larger ones, many lift-fhe-flaps and pull-tabs.
There is one interesting pop-up of a dragon. Young children
who are enamored of Harry Potter would enjoy this and the
other Harry Potter pop-up books which are Harry Potter
Hogwarts School: A Magical 3-D Carousel and Harry
Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: A Deluxe Pop-up Book.
Paper Eng.-Should be more exciting considering the source.

Rating: 4

THAT'S FUNNY. By Sue Whiting and Stuart Martin.
Production: Leslie Krey and Mary Bjelobrk. Publisher:
Glenn Johnstone, The Book Company Publishing Pty
Limited. Pub. 2003 in Australia. ISBN 1740472721. $12.95.
24 Vz x 30 cm. 12 pages. 6 large double-page pop-ups.
Delightful, lovely colored pop-ups and a sweet story that
would make this a great choice for younger children. Paper
Eng.: Charming and well done.

11

Diogenes, continued from page 2

The Snow White proved to be an especially good seller
and needed a fast reprinting in early 1961, receiving the
subsequent printing number of 722/7 where the 1960
printing had number 722/6. Together with this reprint
came three additional Kubasta titles: Table, Lay Yourself
(apparently in its first Dutch edition), Tip + Top on the
Farm and Tip + Top at the Zoo, all three exclusively
distributed in Belgium by Diogenes:

Sneeuwwitje

1961

Nr.722/7

Tafeltje dek je

1961

732

Tip + Top op de boerderij

1961

781/2

Tip + Top in de dierentuin

1961

782/2

Though Diogenes had nine Kubasta titles on its list in
their fall 1961 catalog, still present in files of Ms.
Neirinck, only eight of them show. The The Sleeping
Beauty had apparently sold out before fall as did Hansel
andGretel and Cinderella and reprints of the three books
came out early 1962. It is remarkable to see that The
Sleeping Beauty and Hansel and Gretel got the printing
numbers next to the 1960 editions, stating that both books
had not been reprinted in two years. Had Artia flooded the
Dutch market in 1960 with that many copies that it took
time to sell all of them? With the two reprints came two
more titles from the Tip + Top-series: Tip + Top Build a
Motorcar and Tip + Top in the Forest, completing the
quartet that was published with a Belgian imprint.3

Hans en Grietje

1962

Nr.723/5

Doornroosje

1962

724/5

Assepoester

1962

726/6

Tip + Top in het bos

1962

783

Tip + Top als autorijders

1962

784/2

And that was it. Diogenes did not publish any more
Kubasta pop-up books after that. Neither did the contact
with the imported pop-up books inspire her to make
further original ones as was the case with Mr. Lefebvre. In
the 1964 catalog of Diogenes that I have seen, no
panorama books at all can be found. Asking Ms. Neirinck
the reason for it, she remembers that in 1963 or 1964 the
Persagentschap stopped the distribution of her pop-up
books to their newspaper and magazine resellers while
choosing other, cheaper (and for them more profitable)
panorama books. Most likely they were the books
published from 1963 onwards, both in Dutch and French,
by HEMMA, a company from Chevron in Wallony, the
French speaking part of Belgium . We have already seen in
our earlier contribution how the Lefebvre company also
suffered from their rivalry.

To reduce her remaining stock Ms. Neirinck sold all of
them to Standaard, the largest chain of bookshops in

Belgium. To give an indication of the size of the remaining
stock, copies of the Diogenes Kubasta's could still be
purchased in Standaard bookshops well into the early
1980's!

Although Ms. Neirinck was once invited to visit the Artia
premises in Prague at their expense, she never went there.
However, she remembers well being helped out in her
contacts with the company by a lady who spoke Dutch
perfectly. An intriguing story: did Artia have a policy to
employ people who spoke the languages of the countries they
were dealing with? Or was this particular case just a
coincidence?

In 1981, when she was 58 years of age, Ms. Neirinck
retired. Since she was unmarried and didn't have a capable
successor, she closed down after exactly 30 years running
the Diogenes p.v.b.a publishing house. Closing down, also,
is my contribution on this short chapter in the history of
publishing pop-up books in Belgium.

Edited and translated from the Dutch by Theo Gielen.

Notes

1 Francois de Geest, "Jos. Lefebvre: Flemish publisher of
pop-up books with Artia and Carvajal" Movable Stationery,
volume 1 1, #3 (August, 2003) pages 1-2 and 12-17.

2 The "p.v.b.a." stands for the legal form of the personen
vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid (personal
partnership with restricted liability).

3 What follows is based on the notes I made immediately
after my two visits with her on June 6 and September 9,
2002. Out of these notes Theo Gielen once more wrote the
definitive version of this contribution and translated the text
into English, for which I would like to thank him again.

4 In the Lefebvre contribution the figures in error changed
place (there "732"). At the time that contribution was
published we had not yet seen a copy of the Hansel and
Gretel but meanwhile a copy has been purchased and it
proves to have the number 723/2.

5 See for further comparison of the Lefebvre editions the
scheme on page 2 of the contribution as mentioned in note
1 above.

b Mr. Gielen, however, found an indication on two
printings of a German title as published at Frink in Vienna:
a third edition states "50* - 80th thousand" and a fourth one
"81st - 100th thousand." So, printings of 20,000 or 30,000
appear to have been normal - at least for the German market.
For the much smaller Dutch market relative lower numbers
of copies seem likely.

7 Dutch editions of four titles from the Tip + Top series
have only been published in Holland. The ninth title, Tip +
Top go Camping, was never translated into Dutch.

12

Catalogs Received

New Publications

Jo Ann Reisler, Ltd. Catalogues 62 and 63. 360 Glyndon
St.,NE, Vienna VA. Phone:703-938-2967. Fax: 703-938-
9057. Email: Reisler@clark.net.
http://www.clarke.net/pub/reisler

Questions and Answers

A. When I met the publisher of BBC Worldwide at the
Frankfurt Bookfair, I inquired about the question Ann
Montanaro posed in the last issue. She wondered if Harry
Potter: The Flying Car Pop-up Book (0-563-53262-9) as
announced by BBC Consumer Publishing, was ever
published. The answer is no, it has not been published
since it proved "too difficult to get it assembled with the
available material." The title, therefore, has definitely
been cancelled. Theo Gielen

Q. I am trying to identify a book I remember from the
late 1930s or 1940s. It had a red board cover and was 10
or 12-inches by 14-inches. The story was told on the left
hand page and at the bottom of each page you reached a
cliff-hanger moment. They you were to lift he sheet of red
plastic that was over the illustration on the right hand
page and new details were be visible when the plastic was
folded back. Those details were in red print and were
hidden until the plastic was lifted. I remember nothing
about the story but I remember vividly the magic moment
when the plastic goes up and you see what happens next.
Any help would be appreciated.

Betty Anne Reininga
Oldsmar, Florida

Q. I have a copy of Dean 's Movable Book of Children 's
Sports and Pastimes, London 1875. 1 recently purchased
two movable cards that were issued earlier (1 840s?) With
finer engravings and watercolor washes. They are a boy
riding horseback and a boy putting a toy boat in a pond.
They have different verses than the book version. They
probably were issued as Valentine cards. I would be
interested if anyone has other movable cards from this
book. The remaining six plates are: boy and girl on a
seesaw, two girls with a doll, girl playing badminton, boy
pushing a girl on a swing, boy and girl with a dog, and a
boy riding a hobbyhorse. This is an early example of
cross-marketing duplicate images!

Larry Seidman
Springfield, Virginia

The following titles have been identified from pre-
publication publicity, publisher's catalogs, internet sources,
or other advertising. All titles include pop-ups unless
otherwise noted.

Bob the Builder: A Pop-up Surprise Book - Bob and the
Badgers. 16 pages. BBC Consumer Publishing (Books).
£2.99. 0-563-49143-4.

Creativity: The Flowering Tornado.
By Ginny Ruffner. Bruce Foster,
paper engineer. Montgomery
Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery,
Alabama. $19.95. 0-89280-040-2.

Jade Moves House: A
Touch-and-feel Pop-up Book.
18 pages. Tango Books.
£9.99.1857075676

My First Jumbo Book of
Christmas: With Sturdy
Lift-Up Flaps,
Touch-And-Feels, Movable
Parts, and a Pop-up, Too! by
James Diaz. 10 pages. 12" x
9". $9.95. Cartwheel Books.
0-43952-1114.

Moves
House

Sp3.

Pop-up Spooky Castle: A
Bone-rattling Adventure. By
Nick Denchfield, 12 pages.
Macmillan Children's Books.
£14.99. 0-333-96133-1

Postman Fox: A Pop-up Book
and Postcards. 20 pages.
Tango Books. £10.99.
1857075773

Santa's Christmas
Countdown! (Advent calendar) Gingham Dog Press. $15.95.
0-7696-3189-4.

13

CORRECTION

3 9088 01629 3052

The numbering was incorrect in the table that listed the "yellow series" of Disney books that accompanied the article Jos.
Lefebvre: Flemish Publisher of Pop-up Books with Artia and Carvqjal on page 14 of the August issue. Corrections to the
numbers have been made in lines 2.1 - 2.2 and lines 4.1 - 4.3.

1.1 Bambi

sb - si

8 pop-ups. Known both in
Dutch and French Nr:
Cuttings are different

701

1.2 Bambi

ps - si

4 pop-ups

701

1.3 Bambi

sb- ws

4 pop-ups, different cover

710 A

1.4 Bambi

ps - si

4 pop-ups, different cover,
different pop-ups

701

1.5 Bambi

ps - si

4 pop-ups - French

1.6 De geboorte van Bambi

4 pop-ups - French

701

1.7 La naissance de Bambi

ps- ws

4 pop-ups - French

701 (?)

2.1 The 101 Dalmatians. De nacht der kouwe neuzen

sb - si

8 pop-ups

702

2.2 The 101 Dalmatians. De nacht der kouwe neuzen

ps - si

4 pop-ups

702

2.3 Pongo & Perdita

sb- ws

4 pop-ups

702

2.4 101 Dalmatiens

sb - si

8 pop-ups

702

2.5 101 Dalmatiens

ps - ws

4 pop-ups - French

702

3.1 Saludos Amigos

sb - si

8 pop-ups

703

3.2 Saludos Amigos

ps - si

4 pop-ups

703

3.3 Donald Duck en Jose Carioca

sb - si

4 pop-ups

703

3.4 Donald Duck en Jose Carioca

ps - ws

4 pop-ups

703 A

3.5 Donald bij de Inca's

sb- ws

4 pop-ups

703 A

3.6 Donald bij de Inca's

ps - ws

4 pop-ups

703 A

4.1 Sneeuwwitje en de zeven dwergen

sb - si

8 pop-ups

704

4.2 Sneeuwwitje en de zeven dwergen

sb- ws

4 pop-ups

704

4.3 Blanche Neige et les sept Nains/Sneeuwwitje en
de zeven dwergen

ps - ws

4 pop-ups. in Dutch despite
bilingual title

704

14