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:
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Cinderella
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Robinson Crusoe
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Little Red Riding Hood
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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. She was born in in Lippenhuizen (Friesland). Her name appears prominently on the Dutch editions, indicating authorized translation rather than piracy.
The known Dutch titles are:
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Asschepoetster (Cinderella)
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Robinson Crusoë
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Roodkapje (Little Red Riding Hood)
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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:
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Askungen (Cinderella)
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Robinson Crusoe
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Lilla Rödluvan (Little Red Riding Hood)
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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.
Kinder-courant; met platen en vignetten, 1892–1893, no 15 (1 January 1892) contains obituary information about Agatha It states (translated from Dutch):
"The Kinder-Courant has lost, through death, a highly esteemed and faithful collaborator. For many years Agatha wrote for our weekly paper charming, engaging stories that boys and girls so gladly read, because they recognized themselves in them. Agatha held up to them a mirror in which they recognized their own likeness...Agatha, who was born on 11 April 1833 in Rotterdam, died on 8 February of this year. She will not only continue to live in the memory of all the children who were so captivated by her lovely stories, but the good work she accomplished will cause the name of AGATHA, as a gifted writer, to live on in our country." The Editors
About the publisher:
Jacs. G. Robbers was a Dutch bookseller and publisher, later developing into an international publishing house active from the mid nineteenth century into the twentieth century, playing a significant role in the dissemination of illustrated literature, educational works, translations, and general reading material in the Netherlands.
The firm originated with Jacobus George Robbers (1838–1925), who established a bookshop and publishing business under his own name during the expansion of the Dutch print market in the later nineteenth century. The company initially operated as both a bookselling and publishing concern, issuing literary works, travel writing, historical studies, and popular illustrated books intended for a broad middle class readership. Publications bearing the imprint appear in both Rotterdam and Amsterdam.
During the late nineteenth century the publisher issued numerous illustrated volumes and translated works, including this one, demonstrating participation in the international circulation of children’s and popular literature that characterized European publishing at the time
By the early twentieth century the business expanded through partnerships and reorganizations. A notarial restructuring in 1904 created the firm Jacs. G. Robbers and Feikema Caarelsen & Co., continuing operations in Amsterdam for an indefinite term beginning in 1905. The company later became connected with larger Dutch publishing networks and was eventually associated with firms within the Elsevier publishing sphere, illustrating the consolidation of Dutch publishing houses during the modern industrial period. The Robbers firm remained active well into the twentieth century, evolving from an independent nineteenth-century bookseller-publisher into part of the broader professional and academic publishing infrastructure of the Netherlands. Leadership passed within the Robbers family across generations, including later management by descendants such as John Robbers in the twentieth century. Today, the imprint Jacs. G. Robbers is encountered primarily on nineteenth-century Dutch illustrated books, translations, and educational publications.
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, Gosta Children’s Literature in Translation: The Translator's Approach, p 21
“Agatha (Mej Reinoudina de Goeje)” Kinder-courant: met platen en vignetten 13, no 15 (1 January 1892) Delpher Digital Collections, Koninklijke Bibliotheek (National Library of the Netherlands)