An Automaton ala Lothar Meggendorfer

by Stephen J. Gertz

An exceedingly scarce Schoenhut automaton, c. 1890-1900, in full working, unrestored and fine condition - with its original key, yet - featuring illustrated figures in a comic situation typical of movable book master Lothar Meggendorfer has come onto the market.

The scene depicts a tailor sitting at his table with his legs crossed, drowsily stitching a garment while nodding off. To the left, a rascal apprentice also sits at the table with his legs crossed stitching a garment. All of a sudden he sneezes and pricks his dozing master with a sewing needle while his companion apprentice looks on and stops ironing in anticipation of the stab. The tailor jerks awake at the pinprick, but soon dozes off again and the cycle begins anew.

Schoenhut automata have become insanely difficult to find;  I'm aware of only one other coming into the marketplace within the last ten years. As might be easily imagined, automata for children did not endure their enthusiastic play any more than movable books easily survived the eager little hands that mauled them.

Albert Schoenhut (1848-1912) was born into a toy-making from Wurtenberg, Germany; his father and grandfather made dolls, rocking horses, and wagons. As a boy Albert was a toy-making prodigy. His toy pianos were more than just, well, toys. They stayed in tune.

In 1866, a buyer for Wanamaker’s, the famous Philadelphia department store, heard about the wunderkind of Wurtenberg and hired the seventeen year old as a repairman of glass sounding pieces in German toy pianos that had been damaged in shipping en route to Philly.

In 1872, Schoenhut left Wanamaker's to establish the Schoenhut Piano Company on Frankford Avenue in Philadelphia. As his toy piano business prospered, Shoenhut added other toy instruments to his line and expanded it to include dolls, circus figures, toys, and, as here, automata. By 1901, the firm had 125 employees making novelty toys.

By the time of Albert's death, Schoenhut Piano Company was the largest toy company in the United States and the first in the U. S. to export toys to Germany; up until then it was the other way around. 140 years after its founding it is still active as a maker of toy pianos, though, after multiple changes in ownership since Schoenhut's death in 1912, its archives have been scattered and all records of their vintage automata are, alas, lost.

As a result, it is unknown whether Schoenhut copied existing Lothar Meggendorfer designs or had an employee finely imitate the great Meggendorfer's style.

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[AUTOMATON]. [“The Tailor and His Two Apprentices”]. [Philadelphia: Schoenhut, n.d. c. 1890-1900]. Boxed automaton. Image size: 11 1/2 x 15 1/2 inches; 293 x 395 mm. Box size: 13 5/8 x 17 5/8 x 5 1/8 inches; 345 x 447 x 130 mm. Schoenhut blue trademark label to rear.

Three cardboard figures in original paper-covered wooden box, with glass cover and gold-painted metal frame. A sliding panel on the back of the box reveals cardboard parts moved by clockwork mechanisms, which can be wound up with the original metal key.

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Videography by Dustin Jack and courtesy of David Brass Rare Books, with our thanks.

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Of Related Interest:

Lothar Meggendorfer Mania at Auction.

Lother Meggendorfer Animates the Inanimate.

A Movable Book Feast.

Waldo Hunt and Pop-Up Books: A Brief Overview.
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Rare Wizard Of Oz Movable Book Pops-Up In Marketplace

By Stephen J. Gertz

A scarce, complete, first edition, first state copy of The Wizard of Oz Waddle Book (1934) - one of the rarest of all movable books - has come into the marketplace.

Inside rear cover. Note band covering envelope with ramp.

Not only are all six waddle figures present, four of them have not been punched-out from the background sheet and are as new. The accompanying yellow brick road ramp for Dorothy, the Wizard, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, the Lion, and Toto to waddle upon is also present. This is extraordinary; the figures and ramp usually wound up as confetti within days after children got their hands on them.

The Scarecrow.

The illustrations are by renowned American artist W.W. Denslow (1856-1915), who collaborated with Oz creator L. Frank Baum on many books.

The Cowardly Lion.

When the figures are punched-out, assembled with their hinged legs, and placed at the top of the ramp, they "waddle" down the incline as paper action figures. The Cowardly Lion, presumably, needs encouragement to take his first step on The Yellow Brick Road. A metaphysical nudge from behind should suffice; "Boo!" will do.

Dorothy.

The Wizard of Oz Waddle Book is actually a reprint of the fifth edition of the first book in the classic series, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), which, in its second edition, was retitled, The New Wizard of Oz (1903). The text points are similar to the fifth edition (printed 1920s-30s), second state, but with a new title page, an additional entry at the end of the Contents for the instructions, and with the instructions bound at the rear as pages 209-211.

The color plates have text printed on the versos. In the book's first state, as here, the punch-out waddle figures are printed on sheets of heavy card stock which are mounted on bound-in perforated stubs. In its second state, the waddle figures are not mounted on stubs but, instead, enclosed in the envelope along with the ramp. The second state of the cloth is light olive rather than bright green.

Toto.

Bobbs-Merrill, who published The New Wizard of Oz, leased the plates to Blue Ribbon Books, a division of Doubleday, Doran, for the Waddle Book. Bobbs-Merrill had earlier gained possession of the plates from the original publisher of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Geo. M. Hill Co., through Baum & Denslow, after Hill went into bankruptcy in 1902.

"Copies with the Waddles are rarely found," (Greene & Hanff). Copies with the Waddles unassembled and remaining firm in their sheets are miraculous, only seen when monkeys have wings and water is lethal to witches of a certain direction.

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BAUM, L. Frank. Wizard of Oz Waddle Book. New York: Blue Ribbon Books, n.d. [1934]. First edition, first state. Quarto. [1]. 210, [1] pp. Eight color plates by W.W. Denslow, six with die-cut figures. Original pictorial envelope a rear enclosing ramp and fasteners. Green cloth with pictorial onlay. Dust jacket.

Greene and Hanff p. 35-36.

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Of related interest:

How Much Is An L. Frank Baum Inscribed Wizard Of Oz Worth?

L. Frank Baum Tells How To Read The Wizard Of Oz.

L. Frank Baum Remembers Mama, You'll Remember the Price.
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Images courtesy of Aleph-Bet Books, currently offering this item, with our thanks.
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Lothar Meggendorfer Mania at Auction

by Stephen J. Gertz

MEGGENDORFER, Lothar. Humoristische Blätter.
München und Wein: u..a. Schreiber, 1891-1903.
First  edition. Quarto. Collection of all 165 issues
of this humor magazine.

On November 21, 2011. Ketterer Kunst Auktions of Hamburg held a magnificent sale of the J. Landwehr collection of movable books. The auction included eighty-six volumes by Lothar Meggendorfer, the innovative master of mechanical books. Of those eighty-six, only a handful of lots did not sell (but remain available by post-sale).

From: MEGGENDORFER, Lothar. Gamla Bekanta.
Stockholm: O.L. Lamms, [c.1880].
First Swedish edition. Quarto. 25 color lithographs.

John Landwehr is the renowned Dutch collector and bibliographer of emblem books, the author of the standard reference on Dutch color-plate books, an esteemed scholar of the Dutch East India Company, and, not so by the way, one of the world's great collectors of children's literature, with an emphasis on movable books.

From: MEGGENDORFER, Lothar. Grosses Puppentheater.
Esslingen: J.F. Schreiber, [1890].
First edition. Quarto. 6 color-lithographed plates by P. Wagner
and 9 illustrations by Meggendorfer.

“There is little doubt that the most elaborate and ingenious movables ever produced were those of the German Lothar Meggendorfer (1847-1925) made during the 1880s and 1890s…the mechanisms and operations of Meggendorfer’s books—not to mention the originality of his figures—are far superior to any others published before or since.…'They were marvels of ingenuity…Usually several movements took place at the same time on the same page' (Eric Quayle)…

From: MEGGENDORFER, Lothar. Heitere Verwandlungen.
N.p., [c. 1880].
First edition. Quarto. 6 multi-part color-lithographed plates.

"The devices that operated the various figures in Meggendorfer’s books consisted of a series of inter-connecting cardboard levers sandwiched between the coloured illustration on the front of the oblong leaf and the dummy pasted behind it. The animated limbs and heads were cut-out models on the front of the picture, and moving the tab set the whole scene in motion…Needless to say, such was the delicacy of Meggendorfer's machinery that if a child pulled too hard the whole thing could be ruined beyond repair” (Haining, Movable Books, pp. 65-73).

From: MEGGENDORFER, Lothar. Kinderlieder.
Neurode: E. Rose,, [1907]/
First edition. Quarto. Numerous illustrations by L.M.

"While Meggendorfer was an inventor, working with paper, he was also an artist of great talent," said modern master, Waldo H. Hunt, "who insisted upon handling most of the details required of multicolored lithography...

 

From: MEGGENDORFER, Lothar. Lebende Bilder.
München: Braun & Schneider, [c. 1890].
First edition of the movable book by  Meggendorfer.
Quarto. 8 color-lithographed plates.

"But what really set Meggendorfer apart," Hunt continued, "and what has continued to fascinate collectors of his work, are the ingenious mechanizations that he achieved, not just for their own sake but to fulfill and enhance the comic or dramatic effect that he had in mind" (Introduction to The Genius of Lothar Megendorfer).

MEGGENDORFER, Lothar. Look and Laugh. London: H. Grevel, c. 1897.
First U.K. edition. Quarto. Four color lithographed plates.

Given the circumstances, it's something of a miracle that any have survived in collectible condition.

MEGGENDORFER, Lothar. Neues Struwwelpeterbuch.
Esslingen: J.F. Schreiber, [1891].
First  edition. Quarto. Numerous illustratoins, many in color.

The Landwehr Collection sale was one to keep an eye on simply because the collectors market for movable books is limited and this was an enormous amount of material to appear at a single offering.

From: MEGGENDORFER, Lothar. Nur für brave Kinder.
Esslingen: J.F. Schreiber, [1896].
Seconf German edition. Quarto. Six color-lithographed plates.

A total of 241 movable books from the Landwehr Collection were offered in the sale. Sixty-six did not sell; approximately 25% of the collection went begging and are now being offered by Ketterer Kunst in a post-auction sale.

From: MEGGENDORFER, Lothar. Verschiedene Leute.
Esslingen und München: J.F. Schreiber, [1902].
First edition. Quarto. six color-lithographed plates.

That 75% of the collection did sell, however, is a positive sign. It was always iffy that all would would be claimed by collectors; there are just not that many in the world who are committed to movable books.

From: MEGGENDORFER, Lothar. Les aventures de Zigomar.
N.p. , c. 1890.
First edition in French. Quarto. 14 color-lithogrphed plates.

It was a good day, then, for collectors and the trade. Not a great day, but, given the still struggling economy, a positive omen.

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All images courtesy of Ketterer Kunst, with out thanks.
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Of related interest:

A Movable Book Feast: The World's Greatest Collection Comes to Auction.

Lothar Meggendorfer Animates the Inanimate.
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A Pop-Up Book of "Exquisite, Sentimental Beauty"

by Stephen J. Gertz

The Land of Long Ago (1898).

It's rare when  a 113 year old pop-up book in pristine condition lands my desk. It's even rarer when a 113 year old pop-up book in pristine condition lands on my desk, jumps into my lap, and opens to reveal  eye-popping pop-up tableaus that dazzle with the quality of their color printing, and warm with their lovely vintage charm.

Beauty and the Beast.

I am beholding what is regarded as among the most beautiful achievements of the genre, an Ernest Nister production.

 

Mister Nister was a printer and publisher based in Nuremberg, Germany. He established a London office in 1888 under the direction of the writer Robert Ellice Mack and, specializing in children's literature, soon issued pop-up, movable, transformation, and panorama books, as well as standard children's fare, operating until c. 1917.

The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.

"Though primarily involved with his successful color-printing business, publisher and printer Ernest Nister (1842-1909) specialized in colored toy and movable picture books. Operating in both Nuremberg and London in the 1890s, this entrepreneur developed a distinctive style firmly lodged within nineteenth-century aesthetics.

"However, Nister's images outshine those of his contemporaries by epitomizing an exquisite, sentimental beauty. His artistic vision guides all the works regardless of pop-up mechanics and even of illustrator. In fact, we are uncertain to what extent Nister contributed his own illustrations to these books. In many cases, he imposed his own monogram on images in his imprint, dropping the artist's signature in the course of the production process."

Puss In Boots.

 

Detail: Note the finely granulated texture to the print, the hallmark of lithography.

"Nister used a wide range of movable techniques to intrigue children. The popular late nineteenth-century blind format of Changing Pictures, for example, capitalizes on a child's fascination with peek-a-boo. We are surprised to find Jack climbing the beanstalk behind Little Bo-Peep. Nister also animates his pages with simple slats, dimensional scenes, and remarkable pinwheel mechanics. With these basic paper tools, he creates fantastic transformations.

Sleeping Beauty.

"The 'long ago' of [The Land of Long Ago] speaks to a 'never never' land of fairy tales. The casting of such stories into a remote historical past cuts them loose from any connection to reality" (University of Virginia, Pop Goes the Page: Movable and Mechanical Books from the Brenda Forman Collection).

Little Red Riding Hood.

The pop-up plates were printed via chromolithography, a multi-color printing process originally developed in Germany in the nineteenth century that used heavy oil-based inks, devoted one stone for each color, and layered the colors to achieve a rich, textured effect that is easily confused with an actual oil painting, unless you look very closely and observe the finely granulated imprint of the stone's surface upon the paper.

 

Some objected to chromolithography because it could reproduce a painting so well as to be deceptive. But artists were pleased; the process was the finest for reproducing their original color images as accurately as possible.

Cinderella.

 

Little is known about the artist, E[velyn] Stuart Hardy (b. 1870). She was the sister of illustrator Paul Hardy, a writer and illustrator of children's books in color and black and white, military subjects in black and white, and various editions of English classics, including Jane Eyre.

 

The books of Ernest Nister were extremely popular in America, published, heavily promoted, and sold by E.P. Dutton. Edward Dutton kept a close eye on publishing trends in Europe and, recognizing their profit potential, contracted with Nister to exclusively distribute and sell his books in the United States.

High production values and comely imagery withstanding, what remains most impressive about this copy is that it was never, apparently,  enjoyed by the child it was originally designed for; an untouched copy sitting under someone's bed or in their closet for over a century. Movables of this vintage are generally found in various stages of destruction; the books were routinely played with by kids until they ended life as confetti  (the books, not the children).

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[POP-UP BOOK]. WEEDON, L.L. HARDY, E. Stuart (illustr.). The Land of Long Ago. A Visit to Fairyland with Humpty Dumpty. With Pen-and-Ink Illustrations by E. Stuart Hardy. London - New York: Ernest Nister - E.P. Dutton, n.d. [1898].

First edition. Oblong quarto. Six chromolithographed pop-up plates. Black and white text illustrations throughout.

Quarter red cloth over full color pictorial boards.

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Images courtesy of David Brass Rare Books, with our thanks.
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Of related interest:

Waldo Hunt and Pop-Up Books: A Brief Overview.

Movable Books Pop-Up at the Smithsonian.
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Movable Books Pop Up At The Smithsonian

They were first created for adults, as visual aids in teaching astronomy, astrology, and anatomy. But these days we see pop-up books mainly as a delightful entertainment for children. In June of 2010, the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution opened a new exhibit, Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop and Turn, showcasing the art of the "movable book." (This is a more inclusive term than "pop-up," as it covers all books with moving parts.)

A 20th Century Pop-Up Book For Adults.
[WARHOL, Andy] , Andy Warhol’s index (book).
With the assistance of Stephen Shore,
[and others] and particularly David Paul.
Several photos by Nat Finkelstein.
Factory fotos [sic] by Billy Name.
New York: Random House, 1967
(All Images Courtesy of The Smithsonian Libraries.)

Even today, the final assembly of pop-up books is such delicate work it must be done by hand. So imagine the painstaking work necessary to engineer such books when they were first created, before the industrial revolution, or even before the printing press. The Smithsonian show contains over 50 books spanning seven centuries to document the structure, design, and history of the many varieties of movable books.

Nister, E[rnest].
Wild Animal Stories: A Panorama Picture Book.
London: E. Nister; New York: Dutton, 1897

Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop and Turn includes stellar examples of every type of movable book: volvelles (wheel charts), accordion folds, flap books, pull-tabs, transformations (sliding slats), tunnel books (parallel cards designed to form a 3-D image), pop-ups, and more. The exhibit drew on the Smithsonian Institution Libraries' vast collection of over 13,000 movable books, and was created by curator, Stephen van Dyk, of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum Library. Also of great assistance were conservators, designers, and fabricators from two departments of the Smithsonian, the Office of Exhibits Central and the Preservation Services Department.

CARTER, David A.
One Red Dot: A Pop-up Book For Children Of All Ages.
New York: Little Simon, 2004.

A companion blog to the show, Fold, Pull, Pop and Turn, includes an illustrated lesson on the importance of carefully and correctly restoring antique movable books. The Smithsonian Libraries' book conservator, Vanessa Haight Smith, was given a set of six loose cards decorated with hand-colored, etched scenes. These were part of a tunnel book created by the German master, Martin Engelbrecht (1684-1756). The set, published around 1740, was a recent acquisition of the Cooper-Hewitt Library. Smith knew the six separate scenes were designed to be connected together to form a three-dimensional diorama. The finished work would depict aristocratic ladies and gentlemen dancing in a formal garden, all in precise perspective.

Six Etchings From: ENGELBRECHT, Martin.
Untitled Tunnel Book.
Augsburg: Martin Engelbrecht, ca. 1740.

The first problem faced by the conservator was that the legs of many of the figures had grown too weak from wear and tear to support their weight. But even worse, a previous well-meaning but inept "restorer" had used packing tape to attach wooden toothpicks to the backs of the worn figures. The tape needed to be removed quickly but carefully to avoid any further adhesive damage to the delicate laid paper of the cards. The tape and residual adhesive were removed with a scalpel, in a delicate act of "book surgery." Once out of critical condition and chemically stabilized, the figures' backs were "bandaged" with an application of wheat starch paste, topped by narrow strips of Japanese paper. This allowed the figures to once again "stand" without any further damage to the delicate laid paper of the original etchings.

Patient Engelbrecht In Critical Condition.

The Same Patient Stabilized By Proper Treatment.

Stage Two of the Engelbrecht restoration involved sending the six separate cards to the Smithsonian's Office of Exhibits Central. Here mount-maker Richard Gould created acrylic box with supports for each etching, placed in parallel at precise two-inch intervals. The scenes, perfectly aligned and gently held upright, now formed an enchanting, three-dimensional theatrical scene when viewed from the front. Many restorations of movable books are not so successful. The combination of delicate materials and rough handling has made antique movable books in fine condition both scarce and extremely valuable.

The Patient In Full Recovery.

Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop, and Turn will be on display at the Smithsonian Institution through Fall of 2010.

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Of related interest:

Lothar Meggendorfer Animates The Inanimate.

Waldo Hunt and Pop-Up Books.

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Waldo Hunt and Pop-Up Books: A Brief Overview

Meggendorfer, Lothar. Travels of Little Lord Thumb and His Man Damian.
London: H. Grevel, n.d. [1890s].

The pop-up or moveable book has come a long way since the groundbreaking work of Lothar Meggendorfer (1847-1925), the gifted Munich-based illustrator who brought visual sophistication, innovative paper engineering with complex mechanics, and humor to movable books.

The Genius of Lothar Meggendorfer: A Movable Toy Book.
New York: Random House , 1985.

After Meggendorfer, the form declined amongst artists and faded from the general public’s consciousness. The skills were at risk of becoming lost.

Much, if not most, of the credit for the revival and renaissance of the pop-up or movable book goes to pop-up book collector and entrepreneur, Waldo Hunt, who died last week at age eighty-eight.

Waldo Hunt (1921-2009) Photo Credit: Associated Press

"I knew I'd found the magic key," Hunt later said. "No one was doing pop-ups in this country. No one could afford to make them here. They had to be done by hand, and labor was too expensive."

Workers at the Cargraphics factory in Ibarra, Colombia,
assemble pop-up books. Cargraphics has become the
modern Mecca for pop-up book production.

"He was such an important publisher of pop-up books who really advanced them technically. The pop-up designers who worked for him were amazing creative engineers," said Cynthia Burlingham, director of the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts at the Hammer Museum of the University of California at Los Angeles.

David Zeidberg, Avery Director of the Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif., recalled that Mr. Hunt was fascinated and motivated by the intricate engineering that went into books that can go from flat to 3-D structures with the turn of a page.

"Pull a tab . . . in any of Wally's books, and Disneyland appears," Zeidberg said.

In 1965, Hunt created Graphics International, which produced pop-up books for publisher Random House. In 1969, Hallmark Cards bought Graphics International and, after producing over forty titles with Hallmark, Hunt left to start Intervisual Communications in Los Angeles. Today, Intervisual Communications, or ICI, produces a large number of the pop-up books on the market. Hunt greatly broadened the pop-ups' appeal by designing for the wonder of adults as well as children, the pop-ups’ original target audience. He also integrated many technical advances in their creation and production.

Since Hunt, many artist-illustrators have entered the field, and the modern world of pop-up and movable books has become quite fruitful and lively.

Encyclopedia Mythologica: Fairies and Magical Creatures.
Matthew Reinhart and Robert Sabudo. Candlewick, 2008.

Hendricks, Stanley. Astronauts on the Moon:
The Story of the Apollo Moon Landings.
Hallmark Children's ed. Kansas City, Mo.: Hallmark Cards, [1970].
Illustrated by Al Muenchen. Paper engineer: Howard Lohnes.

Pop-ups or movable books have always held a special place as collectibles. Originally meant solely for the enjoyment of children, they were played with until they fell apart; it is difficult to find old and rare movable books that have survived fully intact with all moving and functional parts present and in working order, without repair. Dealers who specialize in rare and antiquarian pop-ups include Helen and Mark Younger's Aleph-Bet Books and Jo Ann Reisler Ltd, both trusted and knowledgeable.

(NISTER, Ernest). Peeps Into Fairyland: A Panorama Picture Book of Fairy Stories
with introduction by F.E. Weatherly. London: Nister, nd, [ca 1895].
“Considered by Eric Quayle, the historian of children's books,
to be one of the finest three-dimensional stand-up books ever produced
by Nister" (Haining: Movable Books p. 74-78).

Ernest Nister was one of the most well-known and innovative makers of movable books in the late nineteenth century. He began his company in Nuremberg, which was then a center for toy manufacturing. After producing several movables for the German market, Nister opened a London branch, where translations were made for the British trade. Nister soon expanded to the U.S., where Dutton in New York promoted and distributed his books.

Those interested in finding out more about pop-up and movable books can begin their investigation at The Movable Book Society, organized in 1993 as a resource and information site devoted to the genre.

An essential reference

Further online resources include:

Adriaan Heino
Ampersand Books
French Pop-Ups
Ellen Rubin
University of Delaware
University of North Texas
University of Virginia
Rutgers University
The Private Library

Pop-Up Book Producers:

David Carter
Bruce Foster
Keith Moseley
Jan Pienkowski
Robert Sabuda

Given the ability of pop-up books to treat a variety of subjects in a lively, entertaining and informative manner, it should come as no surprise that the erotic would gain the attention of paper-engineers.

Greenberg, Gary (Author) and Balvis Rubess (Illustrator). The Pop-Up Book of Sex.
Melcher Media for It Books, 2006. Paper engineer: Kees Moebeerk.

The Pop-Up Kama Sutra. New York: Stewart, Tabori and Chang, 2003.
Paper engineer: J. Biggs.

Caution should be exercised with these two. You never know - but can probably suspect - what will pop-up in your face when you open a page. A few teens video'd themselves looking through The Pop-Up Book of Sex in a bookstore and posted it on YouTube. Giggles abound, all earned. And abuse ensues - too irresistible!



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Peeps Into Fairyland image courtesy Alpha-Bet Books.
Cargraphics factory image courtesy Ellen Rubin.
Quotes about Waldo Hunt from the Washington Post.