Rare 1888 French pop-up book Regardez-moi! by Lothar Meggendorfer, with 8 original working movables; issued by Nouvelle Librairies de la Jeunesse, Paris. Variant of Look At Me and Schau Mich An.
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Nouvelle Librairies De La Jeunesse (Publisher) Regardez-moi! Livre d'images contenant huit tableaux coloriés avec des personnages mouvants (Movable Book) Paris: Nouvelle Librairies De La Jeunesse, [1888]. First and only French edition. Oblong folio (10 1/4 x 14 1/4 inches; 260 x 362 mm). Chromolithographed pictorial card covers over boards. Original red cloth spine. Eight full-color mechanical scenes operated by pull-tabs, each with movable figures. French-language text. Condition: Very good. All eight movables are original, complete, and function properly. One restoration to the first movable scene: expert repair to Santa's hand and partial restoration to the boy's leg. Pages show mild age-toning but retain excellent color. Movable plates remain bright and vivid. Boards show light edge-wear; original cloth spine intact and sound. Pages have been archivally reattached with fiber book tape; pull mechanisms discreetly reinforced. A handsome, structurally sound copy.
Collectors Corner:
Published in Paris by Nouvelle Librairies De La Jeunesse (10 Rue de l'Abbaye), the volume is undated, but bibliographic references confirm the year as 1888. The work is cited in Lothar Meggendorfer 1847–1925: Werkverzeichnis (comboxx, 2012) as part of Meggendorfer's prolific late-19th-century output, combining chromolithographic printing with highly intricate pull-tab mechanisms.
In the introduction (from English version) Meggendorfer asks the children to "Look at me" (the book).
As he does often in the introductions to his books Meggenddorfer realizes their fragility and cautions,
"Will you have this pretty book
And with care within it look?
Turn my pages tenderly,
Move my pictures carefully
"Look at me!" enjoy my fun,
And put me back when you have done."
Movables include:
1. "Chalande arrive" - Santa arrives through a door. Look at pictures closely to see how movable works. Wonderful condition, In other copies this movable is almost always torn away or not working properly. This is the first example that we have seen that allows us to understand how this movable actually works.
2. "Le duo" - A black man & woman on a bench with an accordion & a guitar. The tab moves their hands and instruments to play & the man and womans lips opens and close like they are singing.
3. "Les charpentiers" - Two men raise and lower their arms as they chop wood
4. "L'ane recalcitrant" - A man in native costume raises & lower his arms
as he wacks the mule with a stick. The mule lifts & lower his head & hind
quarters.
5. "Dans la nursery" - A woman holds a baby & a child plays with a bird while pulling a toy horse. The woman's arms rock the baby &
the child bends up & down to extend a stick to the moving bird.
6. "Chez le coiffeur" - Two men sit in barber's chairs being groomed by two barbers. One barber talks, one moves his arm & shaves
the man & a man move his arms up & down - the other barber cuts hair..
7. "Musique de chambre" - A man with a trumpet and a second man with a clarinet. There is a dog in the middle. The men play their instruments & the dog opens & closes it's mouth
8. "Ami s'amuse" - A man is at a table
polishing a boot, a woman with a broom and a dog. The woman sweeps the broom, the man raises & lowers his head while his arm moves polishing his boot &
the dog jumps up.
In the English version the movable are titled:
St. Nicholas
Sambo and Topsy
The carpenters
The obstinate donkey
The nursery
At the barber's
The three musicians
Fido
According the Meggendorfer bibliography, This Meggendorfer was published in English, German, French, and Spanish.
It would be good for everyone to head the advice that Meggendorfer gives in the introduction to this books with all Meggendorfer's: (translated)
Will you have this pretty book
and with care within it look?
Turn my pages carefully
Look at me! Enjoy my fun
And put me back when you have done.
References:
For more on Lothar Meggendorfer and his international publishing history, see:Lothar Meggendorfer 1847–1925: Werkverzeichnis (comboxx, 2012)
Questions? E-mail us at [email protected]
Product Code: MEG-2
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