Guerin-Muller & Cie. (Publisher)
Les Surprises, ou, Le bien et le mal (Movable Book)
Paris: Guerin-Muller & Cie., [ca. 1860]. First edition. Large quarto (34 x 26 cm). Original half cloth binding with pictorial chromolithograph mounted to front board. [6] stiff leaves, printed rectos only, with twelve hand-colored movable scenes (two per page). French-language text. Illustrated by Carl von Häberlin (1832–1911).
Condition: Excellent. All six transformation plates (twelve scenes total) are complete, original, and function smoothly. Minor archival repairs around a few tab areas; some light cover wear and edge toning to the leaves. Binding tight and original. A very well-preserved example.
Each illustration transforms via a pull-tab to reveal a contrasting moral scene. The original title page states: “containing twelve colored paintings executed with the greatest care from the original paintings by C. Haeberlin.”
Collector's Corner:
This scarce mid-19th-century French transformation book serves as both entertainment and moral instruction for children. Les Surprises, ou, Le bien et le mal presents six pairs of opposing behaviors: each large-format illustration opens with a virtue—such as "générosité" (generosity), "travail" (work), or "docilité" (obedience)—and, with the pull of a tab, transforms to reveal its opposing vice: "obstination" (stubbornness), "orgueil" (pride), or "oubli du devoir" (forgetfulness of duty). This moral duality reflects the era's emphasis on character-building through visual storytelling.
The artist, Carl von Haberlin, was a prominent German historical painter whose illustrations here were specially adapted into twelve intricate color scenes. Each movable plate features precise hand-coloring and finely engineered paper mechanics, a testament to the craftsmanship of early transformation books.
Published by Guerin-Müller—a precursor to A. Capendu and active from roughly 1850 to 1880—this title represents an important link in the evolution of French paper engineering. The movable format, used here to emphasize moral lessons, predates the more whimsical works of later 19th-century publishers.
The book is exceedingly rare. Aside from this copy, we are aware of only one other example, sold by Ketterer Kunst (Munich) in 2011 for €1,800 (approx. $2,296).
References:
Carl von Häberlin. Lothar Meggendorfer 1847–1925: Werkverzeichnis. Comboxx, 2012.
Ketterer Kunst, Auction 379, Lot 640. Munich, November 2011. https://www.kettererkunst.com/details
Questions? E-mail us at [email protected]