Pop-up book
“Pop-up”
The term “pop-up” is a catch-all term used for three-dimensional and movable books and greeting cards. The force at the center of all pop-ups is kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is energy that is the result of motion. Kinetic energy is pop-ups is created by opening a page, pulling a tab, or turning a wheel.
Pop up Types
Design and creation of such books is known as paper engineering. The umbrella term for pop up books is Movable Books. Here are three prime examples:
Transformations
Transformations show a scene made up of vertical slats. By pulling a tab on the side, the slats slide under and over one another to “transform” into a totally different scene. Ernest Nister, one of the early English children’s book authors, often produced books solely of transformations. Many of these were recently reproduced by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Volvelles
Astronomicus Caesarium, by Petro Appianus was made for the Holy Roman Emperor Charles. The book is full of nested volvelles, which are circular pieces revolving on grommets.
Tunnel Books
Tunnel books (also called peepshows) are made of two flat pieces of cardboard, holes in the middle of one, and concertina-folded paper connecting them. Scenes are painted on the rear cardboard, the inside of the paper tube, and sometimes items are placed in the eyeline. You raise the top board thereby extending the tube, and look through the hole at a 3-D scene.
A Brief History
Movable books were created long before most people realize. The audience for those books was adults, not children, It is believed that the first use of movable mechanics appeared in a manuscript for an astrological book in 1306. Catalan mystic and poet Ramon Llull of Majorca who used a revolving disc or volvelle to illustrate his theories. Throughout the centuries volvelles have been used for such diverse purposes as teaching anatomy, making astronomical predictions, creating secret code, and telling fortunes. Yet, while it can be documented that movable parts had been used for centuries, they were almost always used in scholarly works. It was not until the 18th century that these techniques were applied to books designed for entertainment, particularly for children.
By 1564 another movable astrological book titled, Cosmographia Petri Apiani had been published. In the following years, the medical profession made use of this format, illustrating anatomical books with layers and flaps showing the human body.
The Pop-up Book Revisement
Traditionally, pop-ups have been seen as little more than children’s books but in recent years, they have grown in prominence, chiefly due to the innovations of Robert Sabuda and other great paper engineers. Another such example is David Carter’s Bugs in a Box books which have combined sales of over four million copies. Also with trademarked properties being transformed in pop-up books, companies like Disney turn large groups of collectors and fans towards something they might have passed by.
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