Books in 3-D

Books in 3-D

Dimond Library hosting a semester long exhibit on pop-up books in its gallery.

By Brian Ward

Durham- The Carel Chapman Movable Book Collection will be on display on the first floor of Dimond Library in the University Museum until Dec. 16. Admission is free, and the exhibit is open till 4p.m.  Mon. to Sat.

Dale Valena, the curator of the University Museum, said that many people have expressed an interest in the gallery since its opening back in Sept. UNH students, faculty members, local high school students and young children have come to see all the books featured in the one-room gallery.

The gallery has pop-up books of different genres and time periods, and features works from famous artists like Robert Sabuda, Andy Warhol and M.C. Escher. Classic children’s stories such as “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Aladdin” share a wall with “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” pop-up books.  A pop-up Fenway Park is surrounded by books about bicycles, the Beatles, and Brittney Spears meltdowns.  Directly across from large, five sectioned Titanic; Aslan the Lion from the children’s series “The Chronicles of Narnia” attempts to leap out of his case. The exhibit even has a section where visitors can make their own pop-up book.

  

“We thought it would be good to give people a little sample.” Valena said.

Carel Chapman, a NH resident, donated her collection of over 2,000 pop-up books to UNH Special Collections back in 2008. Despite having no previous affiliation with the university, Chapman wanted to give her collection to an in-state school. She went on to say that if the university had rejected her, she would have gone out of state to find a home for her collection.

“I wanted to make sure the pop-up collection would have home where they would be looked after and some of rarer pieces wouldn’t get lost.” She said.

Chapman began her pop-up collection over 20 years ago. “Picked up 2 or 3 copies of pop books for Christmas for around the house, afterwards I started looked at them and at the paper engineering and fell in love with them.” She said. 

Chapman approached Bill Ross, the Head of Special Collections about donating her collection to UNH. Ross is involved in finding ideas for the University Museum, and while the library didn’t originally plan to use the books as the subject of their gallery, he started seeing the books as a “good entertainment source for an exhibit.” Chapman has no regrets about donating her books to UNH and still collects and donates pop-up books to the university on a yearly basis.

“It like it’s still mine, but not.” She said.

The term “Pop-Up” was created by the Blue Ribbon Publishing Company in the early 19th century. Paper engineering, the art of making pop-up and movable art, goes back to the early 13^th century. Due to their high cost throughout much of history, paper engineered books were targeted at older audiences and were used in to scholarly works on subjects such as astronomy and anatomy. It wasn’t until the 19^th century where combinations of factors like higher literacy and cheaper printing methods that people started making paper-engineered books for children. Paper engineered books started gaining popularity in the U.S. during the 1930s, and have still have a wide following today. Most pop-up books are made out of country, and require nearly 60 people to hand assemble a single book.

Work Cited

Chapman, Carel. "UNH Pop-up Exhibit." Telephone interview. 26 Oct. 2011.

Ross, Bill. "UNH Pop-up Exhibit." Personal interview. 20 Oct. 2011.

Valena, Dale. "UNH Pop-up Exhibit." Personal interview. 20 Oct. 2011.

Montanaro, Ann. "Concise History of Pop-up and Movable Books." Rutgers University Libraries. Rutgers. Web. 31 Oct. 2011. <http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/libs/scua/montanar/p-intro.htm>.

Briggs, Sarah. "The History of Pop-Up Books: Celebrating the Tradition of Paper Artists and Moveable Designs | Suite101.com." Sarah Briggs | Suite101.com. 19 Mar. 2010. Web. 31 Oct. 2011. <http://s-briggs.suite101.com/the-history-of-pop-up-books-a213183>.