Pop Up and Movable Books

The first movable books actually predate the print culture. The earliest known examples of such  interactive mechanisms are by Ramón Llull (c.1235-1316) of Majorca, a Catalán mystic and poet. His works contain volvelles or revolving discs, which he used to illustrate his complex philosophical search for truth. Through his logic, he divided categories of things and ideas, substances, adjectives and verbs, and knowledge and actions, into superior and inferior groups. Each group was made up of units designated by letters, which were then assigned appropriate sectors on circles of different sizes. The circles were cut out and placed one on top of one another as "a method of obtaining a higher knowledge of all things by simple mechanical means (the turning of circles) in the shortest time" (Lindberg 51).

"During the nineteenth century, the French took an early interest in paper dolls and went on to produce fine paper toys, including movables. The publisher A. Capendu of Paris released several movables under the series Libraire enfantine illustrée. Some were "pull-out" books, in the style of McLoughlin's Little Showman's Series. However, the series also included "pull-the-tab" movables, similar to those of Meggendorfer. Le Chaperon rouge, or Little Red Riding Hood, is an example of a tab operated movable from the series..."

Pop Up and Movable Books: A Tour through Their History
From the Nineteenth Century to the Present

The University of North Texas Libraries

[Thanks to Evan "JabberWokky" E. for the .gif help ^_^]