51ĀŅĀ×

The movable book highlighted this week is one of the originals published in English in 1899, although the publication was also printed in Germany, London and New York, and gives us an insight into the cultural norms of the late 19th century.

Titled, ā€œs,ā€ the book was written by Lothar Meggendorfer, a German illustrator and early cartoonist who was one of the most important figures in the history of movable books. The mechanical structure works as a venetian blind, which is similar to todayā€™s window treatments that reveal different aspects of the world as the slats are moved in different directions.

In this case, a series of mischievous scenarios of small boys, such as boys breaking a window during a winter snowball toss, disappear as the ā€œblindsā€ slide down.

ā€œSo you have one image where a boy is doing something, but you canā€™t quite tell if it is good or bad. But when you pull down the tab to see the transformed imageā€”you see he has thrown a ball and broken a window, and the shopkeeper is running after him,ā€ said Miriam Intrator, special collections librarian for the Mahn Center.

As each story unfolds, the illustrations show us a slightly humorous and nonthreatening ā€œbad boyā€ behavior. In terms of todayā€™s world, that naughty boy behavior would be considered very benign.

The Librariesā€™ Mahn Center for archives and special collections has several other books by Meggendorfer that are equally fun to browse, such as: ā€œā€ and the ā€œ.ā€

ā€œWe have a few other Meggendorfers, but the difference is that they are reproductions; whereas this is an original from the time period,ā€ said Intrator.

Follow the #MovableMondays series on the Librariesā€™ social media accounts: , ,  and .

Here is what you may have missed: ā€œAstronomicum Caesareum;ā€œ&²Ō²ś²õ±č;The Daily Express;ā€ and ā€œMariners Compass Rectified.ā€

Photograph by Delia Palmisano / 51ĀŅĀ× Libraries