Movable Book Society

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The Movable Book Society (MBS) is a nonprofit organization which provides a forum for artists, book sellers, book producers, collectors, curators, and others to share enthusiasm and exchange information about pop-up and movable books. The Society has nearly 450 members worldwide. [1]

Contents

History

In 1993, Rutgers University librarian Ann R. Montanaro published Pop-up and Movable Books: A Bibliography. The volume of correspondences from collectors who purchased the book convinced Montanaro that there was abundant interest in movable books to form an organization of collectors, and thus she founded The Movable Book Society later that year. [2] [3] MBS hosts opportunities for members to meet in person and publishes a quarterly newsletter.

Publications

Movable Stationery: Movable Stationery is a quarterly publication featuring articles about movable and pop-up book history and collecting, surveys and reviews of new titles, information about exhibits, workshops and profiles of collectors and paper engineers. Digitized back issues (1993 – 2013) are available from the Smithsonian Libraries [4] as well as the Internet Archive. [5]

Brooklyn Pops Up: In 2000, the MBS and the Brooklyn Public Library created an exhibit called “Brooklyn Pops Up! The History and Art of the Movable Book” and published Brooklyn Pops Up, a pop-up book featuring eight Brooklyn landmarks designed by paper engineers such as David A. Carter, Carla Dijs, Bruce Foster, Kees Moerbeek, Robert Sabuda, Ken Wilson-Max and others. Maurice Sendak did the cover art which was made movable by Matthew Reinhart. Brooklyn Pops Up is in its 5th printing. [6]

The Movable Book Society: A Celebration of Pop-up and Movable Books: Published in 2004, the commemorative, limited edition book explores 700 years of movable book history and contains 11 full-color pop-ups and movables, including reproductions from historical paper engineers such as Geraldine Clyne, Dean & Son, S. Louis Giraud, Vojtěch Kubašta, Harold B. Lentz, Lothar Meggendorfer, Ernest Nister, Matthew Paris, Ib Penick, Robert Sayer, and Julian Wehr. [7]

A to Z: Marvels in Paper Engineering: In 2018, the Movable Book Society published a special collection of 26 individual pop-up cards to commemorate its 25th anniversary. Each card represented a unique letter from the English alphabet and was designed by paper engineers from the U.S. and abroad. [8]

The Movable Stationery Index: Navigating the Movable Book Society Newsletters 1993-2020: An official guide to 111 past issues. The organization's newsletters chronicled newly published pop-up books, profiled paper engineers and collectors, described technicalities of toy book innovations and showcased book exhibitions. The index includes five sections to search topics: by a person's name, by publisher, by pop-up or movable book title, by event or other topics. [9]

Conferences

Every two years, since 1996, the Movable Book Society meets in person for a multi-day conference. Past events have been held in Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, New York City, Philadelphia and Boston. Past speakers have included various paper engineers and book artists, such as Sally Blakemore, Julie Chen (book artist), Chuck Fischer, Theo Gielen, Colette Fu, Edward H. Hutchins, Paul Johnson. [10] [11]

Awards and grants

The Movable Book Society presents awards at its biennial conferences: [12] [13]

Meggendorfer Prize for the Best Paper Engineering – Trade Publications: Named in honor of Lothar Meggendorfer (1847-1925), a legendary 19th century illustrator and movable books paper engineer. This award is given for the most outstanding commercially published pop-up or movable book issues in the two proceedings years.

Meggendorfer Prize - Best Paper Engineering – Trade Publications
YearConference locationPaper engineerPop-up/movable book titlePublisher
2023Cleveland, OH David A. Carter and James DiazThe Complexities of Pop-Up: A Pop-Up Book for Aspiring Paper Engineers [14] Poposition Press
2021Denver, COWang WeiOpening the Forbidden City [15]
2018Kansas City, MO Simon Arizpe Zahhak: Legend of the Serpent King Fantagraphics Books
2016Boston, MA Shawn Sheehy Welcome to the Neighborwood Candlewick Press
2014Philadelphia, PA Matthew Reinhart Transformers: The Ultimate Pop-up UniverseLB Kids
2012Salt Lake City, UTRay MarshallPaper Blossoms Chronicle Books
2010Portland, OR Marion Bataille ABC3DRoaring Brook Press
2008Washington, DC Matthew Reinhart Star Wars-Pop-up Guide to the GalaxyOrchard Books, Scholastic
2006Chicago, IL David A. Carter One Red Dot: A Pop-up for Children of All AgesLittle Simon, Simon & Schuster
2004San Diego, CA Andrew (Andy) Baron Knick-Knack Paddywhack! Dutton Children's Books
2002Milwaukee, WI Robert Sabuda The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A Classic CollectibleLittle Simon, Simon & Schuster
2000New York CityRobert SabudaCookie Count: A Tasty Pop-upLittle Simon, Simon & Schuster
1998Los Angeles, CARobert SabudaThe Christmas AlphabetOrchard Books
1996New Brunswick, NJno award given

Meggendorfer Prize for Artist Books: This prize honors the best pop-up and movable artist book created in the past three years.

Meggendorfer Prize for Artist Books
YearConference locationRecipientTitlePublisher
2023Cleveland, OHHiromi TakedaOrchids
2021Denver, CO Paul Johnson The Lemon Tree
2018Kansas City, MO Colette Fu Tao Hua Yuan Ji
2016Boston, MAGraham PattenCall Me Trimtab
2014Philadelphia, PADorothy A. YuleMemories of ScienceLeft Coast Press

Emerging Paper Engineer Prize: This honor recognizes excellence in paper engineering among undergraduate and/or graduate students.

Emerging Paper Engineer Prize
YearConference locationRecipientPop-up/movable book titleEducational institution
2023Cleveland, OHApril Serna Capalungan (aka APRL)A Tail's TaleUniversity of Philippines
2021Denver, COTito PerillaNuestras Casitas Carcacol (Our little snail houses)Fundación Universitaria del Área Andina, Bogota, Colombia
2018Kansas City, MOVanessa YusufBhinneka Tunggal Ika: A Pop-up book of 10 Indonesian Public HolidaysInstitute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia
2018Kansas City, MOSandy Horsley (Honorable Mention)Pause Cambridge School of Art, Cambridge, England
2018Kansas City, MOAmy Nayve (Honorable Mention)Popfolio College of Saint Benilde, Manila, Philippines
2016Boston, MANicholas Danish [16] Waterbirds of Michigan: Pop-Up BookCollege for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI
2014Philadelphia, PAKimberly Maher [17] CrookedUniversity of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

MBS Lifetime Achievement Award: This honor recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to the field of movable books. [18]

MBS Lifetime Achievement Award
YearConference locationRecipientContributions
2023Cleveland, OHTor Lokvig and James DiazHonored as "landmark paper-engineers - whose vision and innovation helped spark the second golden age of pop-up books". [14]
2000New York City Waldo Hunt, Intervisual BooksHonored for "ushering in the Second Golden Age of Pop-ups".

Exhibitions

The Movable Book Society has sponsored various exhibitions over the years:

Stand & Deliver: Engineering Sculpture Into a Book Format, 2004, curated by Edward Hutchins. The exhibit, co-sponsored with the Brookfield Craft Center, was held at various locations including San Diego Mesa College, Wimberly Library at Florida Atlantic University, the Denver Public Library and Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts. A catalog and interactive CD were published. [19]

Pop-Up Books from the Collection of the Movable Book Society, 2001, Great Hall of the Westport Library, Westport, CT [20]

Brooklyn Pops Up! The History and Art of the Movable Book, 2000, Brooklyn Public Library. The exhibition began at the Central Library, before touring 24 neighborhood branches. "The Brooklyn Public Library has spent more than $70,000 in state grants to organize Brooklyn Pops Up an elaborate exhibition featuring more than 100 pop-ups or movable books... [the exhibit catalog] nearly sold out its first printing of more than 16,500." [21]

Related Research Articles

Julian Wehr (1898–1970) was known as the "American Master of Animated Books". Around 9 million copies of Wehr's books were sold in the United States and Great Britain, and were translated and sold in France, Germany, and Spain during the 1940s and 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pop-up book</span> Book with moving parts, commonly directed at children

A pop-up book is any book with three-dimensional pages, often with elements that pop up as a page is turned. The terminology serves as an umbrella term for movable book, pop-ups, tunnel books, transformations, volvelles, flaps, pull-tabs, pop-outs, pull-downs, and other features each performing in a different manner. Three-dimensional greeting cards use the same principles. Design and creation of such books in arts is sometimes called "paper engineering". This usage should not be confused with traditional paper engineering, the engineering of systems to mass-produce paper products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Sabuda</span> American illustrator (born 1965)

Robert James Sabuda is a children's pop-up book artist and paper engineer. His innovative designs have made him well known in the book arts, with The New York Times referring to Sabuda as "indisputably the king of pop-ups" in a 2003 article.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lothar Meggendorfer</span> German illustrator and paper engineer

Lothar Meggendorfer was a German illustrator and early cartoonist known for his pop-up books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vojtěch Kubašta</span> Czech architect and artist

Vojtěch Kubašta was a Czech architect and artist. He created pop-up books.

Rives is an American poet, storyteller, and author. He appeared on Seasons 3-6 of HBO's Def Poetry Jam and was a member of Team Hollywood, which won the 2004 National Poetry Slam. His best-known poems include "Kite," about waking up alone in a new lover's apartment, and "Mockingbird," which he performs differently every time, incorporating the words of other poets and speakers in the program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carol Barton</span> American book artist and paper engineer

Carol Barton is a book artist, paper engineer, curator, and educator known for her series of interactive workbooks, The Pocket Paper Engineer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waldo Hunt</span> American publisher of pop-up books

Waldo Henley Hunt was a prolific producer of pop-up books, having nearly singlehandedly revived the genre in the post-war era.

Vic Duppa-Whyte (1934–1986) was a British paper engineer and author for pop-up books.

David A. Carter is an American author and illustrator. He is best known for his pop-up books for both children and adults. His Bugs series has sold over 6 million copies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest Nister</span>

Ernest Nister (1841–1906) was a German publisher and printer of movable books for children and paper ephemera such as greeting cards, post cards and calendars. He was born in Darmstadt, Germany and later had an office in London. He refined the techniques used in the design of "magic windows", "dissolving picture" and pop-up books, publishing them from his firm in Nuremberg, a toy-making center of the 19th century.

Ib Penick (1930–1998), a native of Denmark, was known as "the creative mind behind the resurgence of pop-up children's books in the 1960s and 1970s. In his career, Penick designed more than 130 children's books, including Star Wars: a Pop-up Book, which sold more than a million copies. Penick related to one reporter, "...there are only about 100 folds and tricks to [his paper engineering] trade. It's like playing a piano. You have only a certain number of keys, but it's the combinations that make the difference."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colette Fu</span> American book artist, photographer, and paper engineer

Colette Fu is an American photographer, book artist and paper engineer known for creating pop-up books, especially on a large scale, from her photographs.

Bruce Foster is an American paper engineer and graphic designer who specializes in pop-up books. Called a "paper magic master", he has created more than 40 pop-up books for both children and adults, in addition to the pop-up designs that appeared in the 2007 film Enchanted.

Andrew Baron is a self-taught, award-winning paper engineer and singled out by Robert Sabuda, a leading children's pop-up book artist, as a wunderkind of pull tabs, specific devices used to cause movement in pop-up books.

Sally Blakemore is a paper engineer and pop-up book packager based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is best known for NASCAR Pop-up: A Guide to the Sport, which includes two dozen pop-ups and a 12-second sound chip. Blakemore also heads Arty Projects Studio, a pop-up and novelty book packaging company.

Edward "Ed" Hutchins is known as "one of the most inventive book artists" and proprietor of Editions, a small press publisher of artists' book multiples, since 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Arizpe</span> American artist

Simon Arizpe is an illustrator and paper engineer.

Ellen G. K. Rubin is a pop-up and movable book collector known as the "Popuplady". She is best known for her collection of over 9,000 books, including more than 1,000 by the Czech paper engineer Vojtěch Kubašta, as well as for her lectures and research on the history of the pop-up and movable book formats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Johnson (book artist)</span> British book artist

Paul Johnson is a book artist and teacher in the United Kingdom. He is best known as a pop-up and movable book artist and for his work as a teacher of book art and children’s literacy. Johnson, the founder of the Book Art Project, an initiative that teaches writing to children through book making, has made books with over 200,000 children and over 25,000 teachers worldwide.

References

  1. "The Movable Book Society". www.movablebooksociety.org. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  2. Montanaro, Ann R. (1993). Pop-up and movable books : a bibliography. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow. p. vii. ISBN   081082650X.
  3. Hiebert, Helen (2014). Playing with pop-ups : the art of dimensional, moving paper designs. Quarry Books. p. 119. ISBN   978-1592539086.
  4. "Movable Stationery Newsletter". Smithonsonian Libraries. The Movable Book Society. 1993. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  5. "Movable Stationery". archive.org. Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Texts, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  6. Brooklyn pops up (1st ed.). New York: Little Simon. 2000. ISBN   0689840195.
  7. A celebration of pop-up and movable books (2,500 limited ed.). [New Brunswick, N.J.]: Movable Book Society. 2004. ISBN   0974677507.
  8. A to Z: Marvels in Paper Engineering (1st ed.). Salt Lake City, Utah: The Movable Book Society. 2018. ISBN   9780692098943.
  9. Hicks, Kyra, ed. (2023). The Movable Stationery Index. Chicago, IL: The Movable Book Society. ISBN   9780974677521.
  10. Society, Movable Book Society;Movable Book (1 January 2012). "Movable stationery v.20: no.4 (2012:Nov.)". Library.si.edu. 20 (4): 14–15. Retrieved 27 November 2016.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. Society, Movable Book Society;Movable Book (1 January 2014). "Movable stationery v. 22 :no. 4 (2014: Nov.)". Library.si.edu. 22 (4): 1, 2, 7. Retrieved 27 November 2016.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. "Meggendorfer Prizes" (PDF). Movable Book Society. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  13. Rubin, Ellen (November 2018). "Kansas City Here We Come ... The MBS Conference 2018". Movable Stationery. 26 (4): 1.
  14. 1 2 "2023 MBS Conference Recap". Movable Stationery. 31 (4): 4–15. December 2023.
  15. "Wang Wei: Opening the Forbidden City". Movable Stationery. 29 (4): 15–17. December 2021.
  16. "Nicholas Danish". Nicholas Danish. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  17. "Kimberly Maher". Kimberly Maher. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  18. "MBS Lifetime Achievement Award". Movable Stationery. 8 (4): 19. November 2000.
  19. "[BKARTS] The STAND AND DELIVER catalog". cool.conservation-us.org. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  20. "Fairfield Minuteman". Calendar, Exhibits. No. page B7. September 13, 2001.
  21. Carvajal, Doreen (27 November 2000). "Boing! Pop-Up Books Are Growing Up; Flaps, Foldouts and Complexities Attract Adult Eyes". The New York Times. Retrieved October 23, 2016.