POP-UP EDITION OF LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD FROM THE FIRST AMERICAN SERIES OF POP-UP BOOKS

LENTZ, Harold B. Little Red Ridinghood: The Illustrated Pop-Up Edition. Chicago: Pleasure Books, (1934). Quarto, original pictorial paper boards. $750.

First edition of this fairytale classic, with three engaging pop-ups by C. Carey Cloud and Harold B. Lentz.

Blue Ribbon was the first publisher to market its books using the term "pop-up." As Blue Ribbon explains for the first time, "these are three-dimensional illustrations that rise out of the book when it is opened and vanish when it is closed." They and paper-engineer Harold Lentz teamed up in the 1930s to produce a successful series of imaginative pop-ups. These are the first modern pop-up books produced in America, borrowed from a series of British pop-ups by Brown and Giraud in the 1930s under the imprint Bookano. Blue Ribbon and Pleasure Books often published the exact same books, as here, often with priority—as here—unknown. Another version of this same title was published by Blue Ribbon in 1933 and featured entirely different pop-up illustrations and a very different cover illustration. This should be regarded as a separate work entirely and is thus the first edition of that work. See Montanaro, 164. Owner signature to front board and corner of first pop-up.

Minor expert repair to final pop-up, wolf tail creased on center pop-up; expert repairs to spine, only faintest foxing to boards. A very good copy.