Beauty & The Beast - Agatha's Pantomime Prentenboeken no. 4 - Dutch movable book edition of Dean's Pantomime Series

Bella en de Beer
Agatha's Pantomime Prentenboeken no. 4
Agatha (Reinoudina de Goeje)
Amsterdam: Jacs. G. Robbers, [1893]
Chromolithographs by L. van Leer & Co., Haarlem
Mounted on linen, enameled covers. 2 x [7] pages. Size: 12 x 9 in. (31 x 24 cm)

Description:
This scarce Dutch theatrical toy book—Bella en de Beer, or Beauty and the Beast—is the fourth and final volume in the Dutch-language edition of Dean & Son’s Pantomime Toy Books, issued in Amsterdam by Jacs. G. Robbers in 1893. The format is striking: a die-cut panorama book engineered with dual spines, allowing the volume to stand upright like a miniature stage complete with “side wings” and an orchestra pit. Each dramatic full-color chromolithographed scene is captioned in short prose, translated by Reinoudina de Goeje (1833–1893), who published under the pseudonym Agatha.

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 produced by Dean & Son in London during the early 1890s.

Condition:
Very good. All scenes are complete and intact. There is a split on the back cover along the top and side, which affects the final interior scene printed on the rear board. No damage to the interior movables. Please see photos for full condition details.

Collector’s Corner:

This book forms part of a remarkable international series of late Victorian movable toy books designed by Dean & Son. Their celebrated Pantomime Series consisted of four shaped, theatrical picture books issued in English, each constructed to stand upright like a miniature stage:

1. Cinderella

2. Robinson Crusoe

3. Little Red Riding Hood

4. Beauty and the Beast

These elaborately die-cut books employ a theatrical format with dual spines at the rear board and fold-out side panels forming stage wings. Inside, a sequence of chromolithographed scenes—mounted on linen—creates a dramatic, freestanding display that exemplifies the peak of nineteenth-century paper engineering in children’s books.

The Dutch versions of this series were published in Amsterdam in 1893 by Jacs. G. Robbers under the collective title Agatha’s Pantomime Prentenboeken. 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” and introduced French, German, and English classics to Dutch readers. Her name appears prominently on the Dutch editions, indicating authorized translation rather than piracy.

The known Dutch titles are:

1. Asschepoetster (Cinderella)

2. Robinson Crusoë

3. Roodkapje (Little Red Riding Hood)

4. Bella en de Beer (Beauty and the Beast)

The Dutch books closely follow Dean & Son’s original structure and format. Lithographic printing was carried out by L. van Leer & Co. of Haarlem, a firm noted for its expertise in high-quality color printing and mechanically complex illustrated books.

According to Theo Gielen, the Dean Pantomime series was also translated into Swedish in 1891, where the same four stories appeared as:

1. Askungen (Cinderella)

2. Robinson Crusoe

3. Lilla Rödluvan (Little Red Riding Hood)

4. Skönheten och odjuret (Beauty and the Beast)

Parallel editions were likewise issued in French. In addition, theatrical picture books based on the same designs were produced for the American market by McLoughlin Bros., New York, who pirated the series in the 1890s. 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.

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.

References:

• KB National Library of the Netherlands, entry for Bella en de Beer (Beauty and the Beast)

• Gielen, Theo. “The Dean’s Pantomime Series: An International Phenomenon.” Movable Stationery, Vol. 7 (1999), p. 12.

• Brinkman's catalogus van boeken en tijdschriften, Vol. 1 (1891), p. 11

• Klingberg, Gösta. Children’s Literature in Translation: The Translator's Approach, p. 21