Novelty! Metamorphoses Picture Book – Neuestes Verwandlungs-Bilderbuch – Nouveauté Livre de Métamorphoses
[Germany: n.p., ca. 1890s.]
Description:
Small oblong octavo (6.25 x 5.5 in.; 15.9 x 14 cm). Seven pages total including color-printed pictorial wrappers (front and back). Five interior pages, some divided horizontally into thirds to allow transformation of figures. No publication data other than "Printed in Germany" on rear wrapper.
Binding:
Original pictorial paper wrappers. Transparent tape reinforcement along spine. Some minor edge chipping to cover, as shown. Internally very well preserved.
Illustrations:
Color lithographs on interior pages, arranged in three movable sections per figure to allow for mix-and-match metamorphoses. Each combination creates a humorous or whimsical figure, typical of 19th-century German novelty book production.
Condition:
Very Good. Complete with no missing sections or flaps. All transformation components fully intact and functional. Minor chipping to cover edges. Pencil inscription "Clara" in 19th-century hand. A fragile yet well-preserved survival.
Collector's Corner:
This unrecorded metamorphoses picture book is part of a fascinating genre of late 19th-century German children's novelties. These ephemeral publications, usually printed anonymously on inexpensive paper, were designed to amuse and educate with segmented illustrations that transformed through simple flap mechanisms. Such booklets were commonly sold in toy shops or at fairs, often without imprint, and frequently shared internal plates across different covers and titles.
Although often attributed to well-known publishers like J.F. Schreiber, many of these flap books originated from small printers across Germany. The illustrations were sometimes supplied by freelance artists or drawn from shared image banks. Their inexpensive nature made them widely accessible, but also ensured their rapid disappearance—few survive in complete condition.
Due to their fragility and lack of attribution, bibliographic records are scarce. No other institutional or marketplace copies of this exact variant have been located.