The Home Menagerie (Transforming Movable Cage Book, 1883)
Boston & New York: Forbes Co., 1883. First and only edition.
Patented October 2, 1883 by Howard Hoppin and Arthur L. Brown (U.S. Patent No. 285,897)
Approx. 12 x 14 inches. [18] pp., including nine full-page chromolithographed plates, printed directions, and an integrated mechanical viewing structure. Original pictorial card covers with cloth backstrip, forming a three-dimensional circus wagon complete with vertical wire bars, hinged doors, and a functional clasp. Designed to be propped upright for display, the front cover transforms into a miniature cage façade, behind which the animal illustrations are sequentially presented one at a time. A singular feat of American paper engineering and the only known toy book produced under U.S. Patent No. 285,897, granted in 1883.
This rare movable toy book survives with its three-dimensional cage architecture intact—faithfully reflecting the invention outlined in U.S. Patent 285,897. Designed by Rhode Island architects Howard Hoppin and Arthur L. Brown, the book was engineered to convert into a miniature viewing cage, with each illustrated animal plate to be sequentially displayed behind a barred wire front.
When fully assembled, the book transforms into a three-dimensional box-like display, with the pictorial cover forms the red façade of a circus wagon, complete with a gilt-lettered title panel, central chromolithograph of a tiger and monkeys, and ornate decorative flourishes. The integrated wire cage structure is complete, retaining original vertical bars, hinged doors, support rod, and clasp—each element consistent with the patented format. The front cover flaps open on hinges and are held in position by wire fasteners, forming a self-supporting frame for viewing the interior plates. A long stabilizing pin, pierced through the rear board, supports the upright display configuration described in the 1883 patent.
All nine chromolithograph animal scenes are clean, bright, and individually preserved beneath their original tissue guards. Printed operating instructions are fully mounted and intact, with both the introductory text and mechanical directions present. Binding remains sound, with only minor separation at one rear corner. One of the two original top hook wires—used to secure the opened cage doors—is absent, though the remaining hook and long stabilizing wire allow the full cage structure to function as intended. Lithographs show only minimal wear, and all structural features of this complex novelty book remain operative.
Publisher's Operating Instructions:
A printed DIRECTIONS label is affixed to the interior panel, detailing how the book is to be transformed into a miniature viewing cage. It guides the child reader to "form a cage" by tying strings to the front wall, then releasing the illustrated plates one by one using the built-in catch system. As the instructions state:“The sheets should be all held up by the catch at the top of the back wall, except the introduction, which should lay flat in the bottom of the cage. This introduction the young showman reads first... After finishing the description to each animal... he allows the next sheet to drop by moving the lever at the back until the small catch is in a line with the hole in the sheet... When finished and desiring to repeat, the sheets must be placed back on the catch one by one...”
— Printed label mounted to rear board, Forbes Co., 1883
Collector’s Corner:
U.S. Patent 285,897 was filed September 18, 1882 and granted October 2, 1883, under the title “BOOK, ALBUM, &c.” It outlined a method for converting a picture book into “a miniature cage, house, theater, &c.” using structural flaps, wire bars, and a manual display system whereby each illustrated page could be successively dropped into place behind the simulated cage front for viewing. The inventors emphasized creating a “novel and striking effect” that would “increase the interest and hold the attention of the child.” Their design allowed each image to appear in its own theatrical frame, visible behind real metal bars.
The Home Menagerie is the only known movable book produced under this patent, and no similar American toy book structure is recorded. No other titles by Hoppin or Brown in the children’s book or mechanical novelty field are known. The entire structure—cover cage, hinges, wires, plates, levers, and display mechanism—directly reflects the patent’s claims and survives intact in this copy, making it an exceptional and possibly unique survival.
Rarity: No institutional holdings of The Home Menagerie are recorded in major library catalogs, including OCLC WorldCat, the Library of Congress, or the British Library. No copies appear in the holdings of the American Antiquarian Society or in any major museum collections specializing in children’s books or paper engineering. To date, no previous auction records or dealer catalog entries have been located, suggesting the extreme scarcity of this edition.
About the Publisher:
Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Co., founded by William H. Forbes in Boston in 1862, became one of the largest and most technically advanced lithographic houses in the United States. By the 1880s, Forbes was producing posters, trade cards, maps, labels, and high-end advertising chromolithographs at industrial scale, with operations spanning multiple cities. While they are not known for children’s books, their expertise in color printing and visual storytelling made them an ideal partner for a project as complex as The Home Menagerie. It appears this was a single contracted edition—no other toy or movable books from Forbes are documented, underscoring the exceptional nature of this production.
About the Inventors:
Howard Hoppin (1856–1940) became a well-known architect in Providence, Rhode Island, where he designed hospitals, churches, and university buildings throughout New England. His co-patentee, Arthur L. Brown, also worked in architectural and civil engineering fields. This patent appears to be their only known venture into children’s publishing or mechanical novelty design.
References:
U.S. Patent No. 285,897. Hoppin and Brown. Issued October 2, 1883.
“Poster Advertising Association, Incorporated.” 1912, p. 34. Details Forbes' founding and prominence in lithographic printing.
Temple University Historical Collections. Notes on Forbes’ national and international branches.
Goods for Sale: Products and Advertising in the Massachusetts Industrial Age. 2007, p. 22. History of Forbes’ early growth and move to Chelsea.
Boston Chamber of Commerce. Boston: An Old City with New Opportunities. 1922, p. 67. Describes Forbes’ expansion to over 1,100 workers and its broad printing operations.
Massachusetts Library Association Bulletin. Biographical entry on Howard Hoppin.
Bruccoli, Matthew J., ed. "Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 49: American Literary Publishing Houses, 1638–1899." Gale, 1986.