Summer 2016 | Sea Island Life Magazine Spring/Summer 2016

NO LONGER DESIGNED AND SOLD EXCLUSIVELY FOR KIDS, POP-UP BOOKS ARE VERITABLE 21STCENTURY MASTERPIECES. BY JENNIFER PAPPAS YENNIE T he first time I heard the term “paper engineer” it was 2005. Fresh out of college and fascinated with the antiquated art of letterpress printing and bookbinding, I was a volunteer at San Francisco Center for the Book. Once a week, I sorted metal type, cleaned Vandercook presses, and cut down paper in exchange for studio hours. That day, I was helping curators set up a new exhibit of limited edition popup books, and each masterpiece I handled seemed magical. Today, the vocation of paper engineering is equally enchanting. Manipulating one of our oldest mediums, paper, into animation with the sole intention of delighting one’s audience seems especially noble in a world gone almost completely digital. Many people don’t realize the longstanding history and technique behind these movable books that many of us know simply as “pop-ups.” Once Upon a Time TOP PHOTOS COURTESY OF MOVABLE BOOK SOCIETY Long considered amusing novelties for children, pop-up books actually have a lengthy history, predating printed books. Experts believe the technique dates back to the 13th century in Spain. They originated as an An early pop-up by Lothar Meggendorfer “The ‘Pop-Up’ Pinocchio” (1932) intricate artistic method for explicating complex processes such as anatomy, astronomy, medicine and mathematics. It wasn’t until the 19th century that a number of craftsmen, mainly in London, were able to produce popup books on a large scale and market them to children for entertainment. Out of this transition grew a number of different techniques, including the use of liftable flaps, transformational slats and multidimensional peep boxes, which allowed books to spring to life like never before. Early pamphlet-like books with these details went by a variety of names around the world— metamorphosis, Harlequinades and turn-up books are just a few. German artist Lothar Meggendorfer emerged as a major player at the height of a golden age for movable books when he published “Living Pictures” in 1878. His work made use of thin copper wires, metal rivets and levers to create multipart illustrations that simultaneously moved in innovative directions at the pull of a single tab. His efforts were a revelation, and are still considered some of the most intricate mechanisms ever created. It was also in the 1880s that America entered the movable book market with the Little Showman’s Series, published by McLoughlin Brothers in New York City. Production came to a grinding halt during World War I, however, and it was not until the 1930s and 1940s that pop-ups once again flourished thanks to the availability of new materials and a global push to reinvigorate the way people bought books. London publisher S. Louis Giraud and his “living models” were at the forefront of this renaissance. Though the term was not yet in use, these affordably priced models were authentic predecessors of modern pop-up books, with dioramas that sprang up when the pages were opened and retreated as each spread closed. A slew of pioneering publishers and artists quickly followed suit, establishing what would become a new era of movable books in Europe and the United States. Blue Ribbon Publishing, headquartered in New York and responsible for coining the term “pop-up,” struck gold by bringing to life traditional fairy tales and Walt Disney characters in pop-up format, enjoying widespread commercial success as a result. The real sea of change, however, came in the mid1960s, when Waldo Hunt, an enterprising American, founded Graphics International, Sam Ita’s “Moby-Dick: A Pop-Up Book” combines a graphic novel with movable art. SPRING/SUMMER 2016 | SEA ISL AND LIFE 35

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