The First Catalogue from Philip Salmon & Company Looks at Some of the More Unusual Uses of Paper in Books

Philip Salmon & Company Books Fine & Rare has just published their first catalogue, Catalogue 1, The Interaction of Paper. Usually, not much thought is given to the paper in a book. The text and the covers get the most attention. Nevertheless, it's the paper that delivers the message. Without it, a book is nothing more than a book safe. For the books in this catalogue, the pages are more than mere paper. The interactive part of this title is most noticeable in the pop-up and movable books which form a large part of this collection. The reader interacts with the paper, pulling tabs or lifting paper in a way that makes something change, a scene come to life. Salmon has extended the selection to also include books that were used for design and some artist's books.

Salmon describes what is offered in the Introduction as “books designed by the influential and ingenious German artist, Lothar Meggendorfer; the charming works published by Ernest Nister; the paper engineering of Vojtech Kubasta; a small selection of pop-ups from Blue Ribbon Books, including a number of Disney titles; a host of other children’s items from the 19th and 20th centuries; modern book arts; technical materials of clever graphic design; and odd items of optical interest.” Here are a few of them.

We begin with the “father of the pop-up book,” Lothar Meggendorfer. He was a German cartoonist and illustrator who decided he wanted to give life to his books. He began designing movable books in the second half of the nineteenth century. Perhaps this was his way of getting attention considering he was the youngest of his father's 25 children. This book is Joies Enfantines published in 1891. It is a first French edition of a book that translates to “childish joys.” His books were translated to numerous languages and published throughout Europe and America. This book describes events in the life of young Paul and his sister Gilberte. Paul holds a bottle of champagne up high and Gilberte carries a cake. When the tab is pulled, Paul lowers the bottle of champagne while Gilberte sticks out her tongue and puts the cake in her mouth. Other scenes display their uncle Gaspard summoning his cat, a trip to Cairo, a carnival, and a housekeeper cleaning their grandmother's mirror while grandmother watches her reflection. Item 6. Priced at $5,000.

Next to Meggendorf, the best known name in movable books is likely his fellow German publisher from the late 19^th century, Ernest Nister. Also like Meggendorf, his target was primarily children as they are more apt to be excited by moving parts. Circa 1910 Nister published The Airship Panorama Book. It is illustrated with four early lighter-than-air ships flying over different places, including the Arctic and the Statue of Liberty. The airships fly off the page... literally. When the pages are opened, the airships rise off the page (though, naturally, still attached). Nister developed the automatic pop-up book. Rather than requiring someone to pull a tab, they moved automatically when the pages were opened. Item 33. $2,250.

This is one of Meggendorfer's most elaborate works. The title is Das Puppenhaus, the Dollhouse, published circa 1911. When this book is opened, it folds out to form five scenes, three of interior rooms and two of outside views. Within are detailed features, people, furniture, fixtures, a window made from clear plastic, a piano, a bust of Beethoven, a stove and kitchen utensils, doors between rooms. Various features in the house can be manipulated by the owner. The original 1889 edition had a donkey cart outside, but it was later replaced by an automobile. When playtime was through, the dollhouse could be folded back up and taken to another location. Item 16. $4,000.

This is a recent book, and an odd take on a type more often seen for a juvenile audience. It's one of those books with the pages divided vertically into three segments. It allows a face to be combined with parts of another face, the top, middle, and bottom sections being turned separately. The book, by Nicolo Dante, is titled The Book of Dictators. Instead of ordinary faces, Dante has chosen to use those from some the twentieth century's most notorious dictators. There are the likes of Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Tito and Castro. So if you would like to see Stalin's eyes and hair, with Hitler's nose, along with Pol Pot's mouth, you can create this ungodly face. Perhaps you can find features that set the worst of us apart from others, but most likely the good and the evil share certain appearance features. Published in 2011. Item 113. $950.

Next is another old German oddity. The title is Komische Mahlerey: Eine Sammlung Characteristischer Doppelköpfe auf XV Platten (Comic Painting: A Collection of Characteristic Double Heads on XV Plates), published in 1816. These are pictures which, when turned upside down, reveal a different picture. Primarily, it's a case of one face morphing into another when reversed. A woman is displayed as she looks at home vs. made up to go out, a hermit is juxtaposed with a night owl, a singing man becomes a rooster. Salmon tells us that this type of book is actually very old, such images going back at least to the sixteenth century. Item 105. $1,500.

Philip Salmon & Company is located in Boston and can be reached at 617-247-2818. Their website is salmonrarebooks.com.