Welcome to the second of a nine-part video series, called #MovableMondays, highlighting publications from historic movable books through contemporary “pop-ups” found within the Rare Book Collection in the Libraries’ Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections.
One leap forward in the field of pop-up books came with the publication of the “The Daily Express Children's Annual,” (circa 1930s) printed by Lane Publications, which contains illustrations engineered to “spring forward,” or rise three-dimensionally when opened. Produced by Louis Giraud, this five-part publication laid the groundwork for Giraud’s well-known Bookano book series.
“You see a real evolution in the mechanics of the books… Now all you have to do is open the page, and you are going to see a pop-up, even though they weren’t called pop-ups at the time,” said Miriam Intrator, special collections librarian. “Giraud called the moveable parts of his books ‘living models’ [because] they are some of the early examples of pop-ups.”
Despite their huge popularity, this genre of books may often be overlooked within the walls of academia—which makes #MovableMondays even more enticing to the viewer.
Follow the series on the Libraries’ social media accounts: YouTube , Facebook , Twitter and Instagram —and be sure to check out the Feb. 11 #MovableMondays featuring “ The Mariners-Compass Rectified .”
Here is the Jan. 14 th video you may have missed: Astronomicum Caesareum
Photo by Stephen Zenner/Ohio University Libraries