Landmark Books in All Fields
ItemID: #118809
Cost: $750.00

Sleeping Beauty

Vojtech Kubasta

FIRST EDITION OF SLEEPING BEAUTY, 1961, A VOJTECH KUBASTA POP-UP BOOK, FEATURING EIGHT DOUBLE-PAGE POP-UPS DEPICTING SCENES FROM THE CLASSIC FAIRY TALE

KUBASTA, Vojtech. Sleeping Beauty. London: Bancroft, 1961. Quarto, original half green cloth, original pictorial boards. $750.

First edition of this beloved fairy tale, featuring the traditional story and eight wonderful, double-page, folio pop-ups.

This wonderful pop-up book includes the story of Sleeping Beauty and eight large, double-page pop-ups (10 x 10 x 10 inches). "Kubasta's talent as a graphic artist was to combine a robust graphic style of great charm and humor with a puppet-master's flair for story-telling in three dimensions" (John Michael Dawson). "His distinctive bold and colorful figures, as seen in this work, became increasingly popular. After the Czech publishing industry was nationalized in 1948, Kubasta began creating advertising materials for Czech products abroad that included three-dimensional cards for items such as Pilsner beer, porcelain and sewing machines. Beginning in the 1950s, he developed elaborate paper construction crèches annually each Christmas season… His beautifully designed and intricate pop-ups were later produced from the 1960s-1980s worldwide and became the inspiration for the revival of the pop-up book industry in America" (Stephen Van Dyke, Smithsonian Libraries). "Kubasta's faux-naif style with a Bohemian flavor is somewhat exotic to an American eye" (Ellen G.K. Rubin), and "today, original editions of his illustrations and books are sought after by collectors from around the world" (James A. Findlay). Kubasta's works were all printed in Czechoslovakia using a special pre-war press at the state-run company, Artia Prague. They were then published for various markets, including Great Britain. The moveable sections of Kubasta's pop-ups are often found damaged and incomplete; this copy features all the moveable sections. Montanaro, 279.

Closed tears around edges of one window in fairy scene not affecting movable, movable tabs rubbed from handling, only slightest soiling to interior, mild toning and bumping to edges of boards. A desirable copy in extremely good condition.

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