HOME PANTOMIME TOY BOOKS
ALI-BABA AND THE 40 THIEVES
Second Series*
With Five Set Scenes & Nine Trick Changes
London: Dean & Son, 160 Fleet Street.
[Price on cover: “Eight Various — One Shilling Each.”]
Illustrated by Richard André (attribution per Blom). Chromolithographed by Emrik & Binger. (stated on cover)
Oblong 4to (9 13/16 × 7 5/16 in.; 25 × 18.5 cm). Victorian movable book, original softcover 1880
8 pages of rhyming text, [3] advertisement pages, plus [6] leaves of chromolithographed plates on varying sheet sizes (approximately 26 pp. of color illustration). Original illustrated paper wrappers.
Issued as part of what Dean & Son designated the “Second Series” of Pantomime Toy Books. One of the most inventive Victorian transformation formats, comprising a central “book within a book” of layered chromolithographed plates forming a miniature theatrical stage. As the shorter leaves are turned, portions of the scene disappear and others are revealed, producing five set scenes with nine trick changes. The pantomime story is told in verse, with folding and overlapping color plates, some fitted with short tabs to facilitate the transformations.
The final three pages consist of publisher’s advertisements, and the rear wrapper is printed with Dean & Son’s illustrated catalogue of toy books and series.
Condition
A good copy of a scarce and fragile movable book. Inner booklet present, with a split along the central gutter, the upper quarter pulling away at the gutter but still attached. A thread repair to the binding, added long ago - see photo - visible along the spine edge and serving as early reinforcement. Some small areas of surface loss to a few illustrated pages, chiefly near the gutter. Occasional light spotting and general toning throughout. Advertisement leaves and wrappers with edge wear and handling, consistent with use.
Overall sound and complete, with wear typical of this highly fragile format, retaining full pantomime functionality.
Because these books were issued in thin paper wrappers, very few complete copies survive in comparable condition.
Collector’s Corner:
Dean & Son’s Home Pantomime Toy Books are among the earliest and most engaging Victorian transformation books. The illustrations are grouped centrally and printed on leaves of differing lengths, forming simple but effective theatrical transformations as the pages are turned.
The series comprised eight titles:
Series titles
First series
1. Aladdin
2. Sleeping Beauty
3. Cinderella
4. Puss in Boots
5. Blue Beard
Second series
6. Whittington and His Cat (1880)
7. Ali-Baba and the Forty Thieves: with Five Set Scenes & Nine Trick Changes (1880)
8. Beauty and the Beast: with Five Set Scenes & Nine Trick Changes (1880)
Advertisement for Dean’s Novel Pantomime Toy Books, The Christmas Bookseller (1880), p. 250.
Note " Three New Ones just ready"
Working for Dean & Son in the late 1870s, Richard André wrote and illustrated a number of pantomime toy books, often anonymously. Modern scholarship, particularly the work of Thomas E. Blom, has attributed to André specific Dean transformation titles of this period, including Ali-Baba and the Forty Thieves and Beauty and the Beast. These titles correspond to what are now commonly referred to as the “Home Pantomime” or “Second Series” wrappers, although that series designation itself is not used by Blom.
* The contemporary trade advertisement above supports the view that the designation “Second Series” most likely refers to the three newly issued titles announced by Dean & Son rather than to the entire pantomime line. In The Christmas Bookseller (1880), Dean advertises the pantomime toy books as a numbered set and explicitly announces “Three New Ones just ready,” listing Whittington, Ali Baba, and Beauty and the Beast as numbers 6, 7, and 8. This wording implies that these titles constituted a fresh addition to an already existing group, and it is therefore reasonable to understand the “Second Series” wording on some covers as a marketing label applied to these later issues to distinguish them from the earlier pantomime toy books.
The covers of the earlier and later issues differ not only in wording but also in overall design and emphasis. Earlier pantomime toy book covers use a more open, less standardized layout, typically dominated by a large arched or diagonal title banner identifying the book as part of “Dean & Son’s Pantomime Toy Books,” with fewer fixed text elements and greater variation from title to title. By contrast, the the later titles adopt a tightly standardized theatrical composition: the heading “Home Pantomime Toy Books” is prominently fixed at the top, the title is consistently placed within a central circular medallion, and the surrounding figures form a repeated stage-like tableau. The later covers also regularize the placement of ancillary text, including the left-hand price panel (“Eight Various — One Shilling Each”), the subtitle (“With Five Set Scenes & Nine Trick Changes”), and the publisher’s imprint at the foot, producing a more uniform and branded appearance than the earlier, more pantomime covers.
It is interesting to note that the series was reproduced slightly later with the omission of the phrase “Five Set Scenes” from the cover design. This later Children’s Pantomime Toy Books version was advertised on a Dean & Son publisher’s catalogue page under the heading “Dean & Son’s New Modern Toy Books and Pantomime Toy Books,” suggesting a reissue intended to regularize and modernize the presentation of the series once the format had become established.
First image: From the collection of vinagepopupbooks.com
Second image: Scan from the University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries
Other USA publisher editions:
These American issues reflect the widespread international appeal of Dean & Son’s Pantomime designs but represent separate commercial adaptations rather than original English or Dutch editions.
The pantomime toy theaters were famously pirated in the United States by McLoughlin Brothers, whose editions differ notably from the earlier English versions in their larger format and cardboard covers, in contrast to the smaller softcover Dean editions. In November 1891, The American Stationer observed that “McLoughlin Brothers have placed on the market a line of shaped pantomime books which are very interesting and which will be rapid sellers as Christmas souvenirs. These books are miniature stages, on which are played Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and other children’s favorites.”¹ McLoughlin produced a series of five Pantomime Toy Books: Aladdin, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Blue Beard, and Puss in Boots.
Mcloughlin - from the collection at vintagepopupbooks.com
Dean & Son authorized E.P. Dutton in New York to reproduce these books in 1880. The covers included a circle with the words Eight Various and listed them as Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Glass Slipper, Puss in Boots, Blue Beard, Whittington and His Cat, Ali Baba and Forty Thieves, Beauty and the Beast.
We have not seen a Dutton copy, but thankfully Cary Sternick, whose website documents his meticulous research and extraordinary collection of vintage juvenile books, shows the Dutton Cinderella Pantomime here: https://19thcenturyjuvenileseries.com/series/ncpp_dutton.html As ypu can see, the Dutton books followed the early Dean softocver format.
The Dutton format followed this later Dean format with only he publisher name chaged:
Dean & Son also authorized Raphael Tuck & Sons, through their New York office, to issue a shaped-format edition of the pantomime toy books. Notably, the cover of this Tuck edition bears the legend “Dean’s Pantomime Series (Patented, No. 17105),” directly referencing British Patent No. 17,105. As recorded in The Illustrated Official Journal (Patents) in 1890, this patent was granted to Henry Samuel Dean of 166 Fleet Street, London, for “a novel method of ‘making-up’ books”.
International editions (trick-change format)
Softcover international counterparts to Dean’s pantomime toy books were produced in the late 19th century, most notably in the Netherlands. Dutch editions of the same fairy-tale titles were issued by I. de Haan of Haarlem under series titles such as Nederlandsche prentenboeken voor de jeugd and Tooverboek / Tooverprentenboek. Operating from the same city, De Haan worked closely with the Haarlem lithographic firm Emrik & Binger, which printed the Dutch transformation editions. I. de Haan was active from 1875 to 1900. All known international examples in this trick-change category were issued in paper wrappers, reflecting their intended use as inexpensive gift and play books.
Also of interest : According to Buijnsters, P. J., and Leontine Buijnsters-Smets. Lust en leering: Geschiedenis van het Nederlandse kinderboek in de negentiende eeuw. Zwolle: Waanders Uitgevers, 2001, p. 397. Dean often worked with the Dutch firm Emrik & Binger. To quote:
“However, as the production costs of movable books continued to rise, Dean & Son switched to cheaper editions in the late 1860s. They often outsourced the printing itself to Emrik & Binger in Haarlem.”
Hardcover editions in the Netherlands were called Agatha's Pantomime Prentenboeken and were issued in Amsterdam by Jacs. G. Robbers in 1893. The plates were produced by L. van Leer & Co. of Haarlem, a well-known Dutch printing firm. The Dutch adaptation retains the vivid theatricality and interactive ingenuity of the English originals The texts were translated and adapted for a Dutch-speaking audience by Reinoudina de Goeje (1833–1893), a pioneering female translator of children’s literature who wrote under the pseudonym “Agatha”.
According to Theo Gielen, the Dean Pantomime series was also translated into Swedish in 1891. In this edition, the same four stories appeared as Askungen (Cinderella), Robinson Crusoe, Lilla Rödluvan (Little Red Riding Hood), and Skönheten och odjuret (Beauty and the Beast). Parallel editions were likewise issued in French.
It should also be noted that the Dean softcover book Cinderella were later reproduced in facsimile form. Cinderella: With Five Set Scenes and Nine Trick Changes was issued as a facsimile edition from the Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books, Toronto Public Library, published by The Bodley Head, London, in 1981.
About the illustrator of this book:
Richard André, born William Roger Snow (1834–1907), was one of the most imaginative and theatrical illustrators of the Victorian period. His remarkable life encompassed military service, world travel, public scandal, and a series of personal reinventions, but it was his work for Dean & Son in London and later McLoughlin Brothers in New York that secured his lasting place in the history of children’s book illustration. Both firms were leaders in chromolithography and toy-book innovation, and each provided André with an ideal stage for the lively visual storytelling that became his hallmark.
After leaving Cambridge in 1854 and spending his inheritance the following year, Snow joined the British Army, serving in the Crimea, Hong Kong, Canada, and Ireland. His first published work, Sketches of Chinese Life & Character (1860), reflected his overseas experiences. By the early 1870s he had begun writing for the theatre, but a scandal arising from an adulterous affair forced him to abandon both his marriage and his military career in 1875. Disappearing from public life, he resurfaced in England under the assumed name Clifford Merton. It was during these years, between roughly 1875 and 1881, that he formed his most significant artistic partnership with the London publishers Dean & Son.
As Clifford Merton, Snow produced a large body of work for Dean, often anonymously. Dean was at that time pioneering movable books, transformation books, and theatrical picture formats, and Snow’s inventive mind fit naturally into their program. His most notable and historically important contribution was to the Home Pantomime Toy Books, including Ali-Baba and the Forty Thieves, Beauty and the Beast, Whittington, Blue Beard, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Puss in Boots, and Aladdin. These titles represent the only Dean movable books for which André’s authorship and illustration can be securely documented, based on the work of Thomas E. Blom and evidence preserved in the Richard André Papers. For these books he not only created the illustrations but also adapted the rhymed text and conceived the staged layouts that made each volume function as a miniature theatre. The layered chromolithographed leaves—produced by firms such as Emrik & Binger—allowed scenes to shift and transform as children turned the pages, encouraging imaginative home performances with toys, cut-out figures, silhouettes, or simple dramatic play. These books were delicate and heavily used, and surviving complete copies today are scarce. Their vivid theatricality and mechanical ingenuity are closely tied to André’s artistic imagination.
Around 1880 or 1881, Snow’s estranged wife discovered his Clifford Merton identity, leading to further scandal and a legal divorce. He disappeared once again, reemerging under the permanent artistic name Richard André. Under this name he developed a highly successful career as both author and illustrator, collaborating notably with the children’s writer Juliana Horatia Ewing. His reputation during the 1880s grew rapidly, and he produced more than one hundred books, many of which helped define the richly coloured chromolithographed picture books of the era.
By the late 1880s André’s reputation had crossed the Atlantic, and he began working for McLoughlin Brothers of New York, the preeminent American publisher of brightly coloured children’s books. His first known project for them was the large-format travel book By Land & Water around 1887. He went on to illustrate several popular titles for the firm, including Mother Goose ABC (1891), The Three Bears (c. 1888), and Around the World with Santa Claus (c. 1891). These books share the same qualities found in his work for Dean: theatrical staging, expressive characters, and chromolithography that heightens narrative action. Although McLoughlin was famous for its elaborate mechanical and movable books, André’s contributions for the New York firm appear to have been confined to highly finished, non-mechanical picture books, reflecting his role as an illustrator rather than a designer of book mechanisms.
In his later years André expanded into photography and printing, becoming a successful businessman and respected community figure in Hertfordshire. He died in 1907 of a heart attack at the age of seventy-five, leaving behind a body of work prized today for its charm, colour, and inventiveness. His Dean Pantomime Toy Books, in particular, remain landmarks in the history of movable children’s books—unique examples of a Victorian illustrator who transformed the printed page into a theatrical experience.
References:
Richard André Papers.de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, University of Southern Mississippi. Finding Aid. (Biographical summary, career timeline, alias history, and publication notes—especially his work for Dean & Son.)
Blom, Thomas E. The Secret Lives of Richard André (1834–1907): A Lecture Given at the Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books, November 2, 1989. Toronto Public Library, Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books, 1990. (Most comprehensive academic treatment of André’s life, aliases, Dean & Son involvement, and later work.)
Drawn to Enchantment: Original Children’s Book Art in the Betsy Beinecke Shirley Collection. Yale University.
American Antiquarian Society. Radiant with Color: McLoughlin Brothers and the Business of Picture Books, 1858–1920. Online Exhibition.
Wikitree Entry: William Roger Snow (Snow-12440)
Buijnsters, P. J., and Leontine Buijnsters-Smets. Lust en leering: Geschiedenis van het Nederlandse kinderboek in de negentiende eeuw. Zwolle: Waanders Uitgevers, 2001.
“Dean & Son’s E. P. Dutton Pantomime Toy Books,” 19th Century Juvenile Series, accessed January 3, 2025, https://19thcenturyjuvenileseries.com/series/ncpp_dutton.html
Theo Gielen discusses the Dutch and international variants of the Pantomime series in Movable Stationery, Vol. 7 (1999), p. 12. Bibliographic dating for the Dutch Robbers editions is further confirmed by Brinkman’s Catalogus van Boeken en Tijdschriften, Vol. 1 (1891), p. 11. Wim Bunster additionally records the later international circulation and trade distribution of these Pantomime books, including their acquisition en bloc by the Dutch distributor Vlieger and the appearance of related American co-productions in 1894.