“Overcoming” the book: the concept of the pop-up book in criticism of the 1880s–1930s

Abstract

The article serves as an introduction to an archival collection of critical essays devoted to the pop-up book and the picturebook. The history of interpreting these publishing phenomena is examined from two perspectives: the pedagogical approach of Vsevolod S. Murzaev, a researcher of book illustration, in his articles of the 1910s, and — during the Soviet period — the
viewpoint of Yakov P. Meksin, a popularizer of picturebooks and an active collector of children’s books. Meksin’s art-historical approach focuses on the analysis of book construction in its historical development. The critic identifies ten varieties of pop-up books — from simple cardboard books to complex mechanical devices with hidden levers and sound modules —
and evaluates them according to two criteria: typographic expediency and educational value. On the one hand, acknowledging the pedagogical and educational potential of pop-up book and picturebooks, critics at different times defended their right to exist and, to a significant extent, their necessity for introducing children to the surrounding reality. On the other hand, these
publications came into critics’ view primarily within the context of illustration analysis, while the boundaries of their forms, printing techniques, and typological classification remain insufficiently defined to this day.

Keywords: pop-up book, picturebook, Yakov P. Meksin, Vsevolod S. Murzaev, typography, illustration, criticism