Adolf Bähr & Co. (attributed)
The Favourite Picture Book (Pop-Up Book - number 3 in the series)
Berlin: Adolf Bähr & Co., [ca. 1911]. First edition.
Oblong folio (34 x 21 cm). [12] unnumbered pages, chromolithographed throughout. Six elaborate double-page tissue honeycomb pop-up scenes. Original color pictorial glazed boards, spine perished, text block intact. Printed in Germany. D.R.G.M. 247833 and D.R.P. angem. markings to cover. Text in English.
An exceptional and exceedingly scarce example of early 20th-century German paper engineering, this stunning pop-up book features six spectacular spiral-cut honeycomb tissue constructions. When opened, each spread reveals an intricately layered three-dimensional scene, visible through a circular aperture that lifts from the page.
Cover design features a clown holding a book under one arm and gesturing toward a group of chickens. Lower right corner of front board faintly signed with the standing bear trademark. Printed in Germany. Marked “D.R.G.M. 247833” and “D.R.P. angem.” on rear board.
Each of the six scenes in this volume is complete, fully functional, and strikingly preserved:
Scene 1 – The center features a ballerina on a balancing ball, flanked by clowns, a pig, a black poodle, and circus props. The red and green honeycomb tissue paper expands upward and outward, forming a 3D umbrella and tutu effect.
Scene 2 – A blue honeycomb clown emerges in the center, arms akimbo, surrounded by animated chickens and startled spectators. This is a standout design in the book, with unusually dynamic motion implied through the surrounding illustrations.
Scene 3 – A vibrant green honeycomb canopy extends outward to reveal a bustling fairground carousel, where children ride wooden horses and carriages beneath glowing lanterns. The scene is rich with detail: a street organ player cranks music at left, while a baker at right offers steaming pretzels and pastries to cheerful visitors. In the foreground, a young girl in a bonnet pushes a toy cart with a doll wearing a crown, while her companion clutches a bag of treats.
Scene 4 – A dramatic equestrian act bursts to life as a rider in a voluminous red honeycomb skirt performs atop a white horse mid-gallop, encircled by a troupe of costumed clowns. The vivid red tissue structure unfurls in the center, forming the performer's swirling skirt and creating an immediate three-dimensional impact. Two clowns beat large drums on either side while a third unfurls a streaming white ribbon overhead,
Scene 5 – A central clown figure in a red polka-dotted costume stretches a vivid blue honeycomb accordion, the folded paper expanding outward from the book’s gutter to striking three-dimensional effect. At his sides, lively performers and animal-costumed children dance in a choreographed ring. To the right, a pair of mischievous monkeys dressed in yellow frocks mirror the posture of human children, adding a touch of whimsy and satire. The left side features a ribbon-clad girl mid-skip, while a second clown cavorts in the background, framed by festooned garlands and a cheering audience.
Scene 6 – In a striking departure from the circus scenes elsewhere in the book, this lively regatta tableau features teams of rowers racing across choppy waters, with oars raised in synchronized effort. At center, a large red honeycomb balloon pops forward from the mast of a docked sailboat, suggesting a ceremonial buoy or floating celebratory structure. Spectators cheer from the deck above, waving flags and umbrellas in support of the teams. The illustration brims with kinetic energy: rowboats cut through green-tinged waves while colorful pennants ripple in the wind.
Condition:
All six pop-ups are complete, original, and entirely free from tears—a remarkable survival given the fragility of the materials. Still well bound, with the original paper spine in very good condition. Boards show moderate edgewear and corner wear consistent with age. Please consult the provided photographs for details.
A Note on Rarity: This is an exceptionally rare and likely previously undocumented third volume. Until now, we have found only the first volume from this series cited by collectors The discovery of this third volume, complete with six original honeycomb pop-up scenes in excellent functioning condition, expands the known series and deepens our understanding of early 20th-century German novelty publishing, particularly within the scope of honeycomb movable constructions. No copies of this volume are recorded in OCLC, the KVK union catalog, or institutional holdings surveyed across major European and U.S. collections. The copy offered here may represent the only known surviving example, making it a significant acquisition for collectors of early movable books, German Jugendstil-era design, or ephemera of the circus and fairground tradition.
Collector’s Corner:
The publisher of these books has long been a mystery. Through diligent research and help from Florian Preiß, Librarian for The German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology (AdöR) in Munich, we were finally able to unravel the mystery. The registration number was filed with the Adolf Bähr company, Berlin. Below you will find a patent ad for his honeycomb with an image that matches his parrot "pop-up". How fitting that Bähr used a bear as his logo — the German word for bear is Bähren, echoing his name, and the bear is also the proud symbol of Berlin.
This edition is one of three known books in a likely series, all sharing the same registered utility model number, D.R.G.M. 247833, and the distinctive bear-in-circle logo attributed to Adolf Bähr & Co. However, only the second and third titles bear the additional designation “D.R.P. angem.” on their covers; this first title carries the D.R.G.M. marking alone.
The three titles in the sequence are:
The Favourite Picture Book – Cover: Boy holding a book (D.R.G.M. 247833) – People scenes
The Favourite Picture Book – Cover: People riding an elephant (D.R.G.M. 247833) – Animal scenes
[Untitled] – Cover: Clown and ducks (D.R.G.M. 247833) – Circus scenes [THIS COPY]
All three of these books were acquired by VintagePopupBooks.com, with the second and third titles being previously undocumented.
The specific DRGM number 247833 was issued in 1911, confirming the probable publication date for this copy. The related D.R.P. ("Deutsches Reichspatent") designation further links this book to a 1905 German patent (No. 166117) filed by Adolf Bähr & Co., which describes a spiral-formed honeycomb structure designed for movable picture books.
The publisher’s logo—a standing bear enclosed in a circle—appears consistently across all three known books and matches the registered mark of Adolf Bähr & Co., which held patents in Germany, Austria, and the United Kingdom for honeycomb-based three-dimensional constructions.
Estimated publication date rationale: Although the underlying honeycomb mechanism was patented in 1905 (German Patent No. 166117), the book was likely not published until several years later. This delay is typical for complex novelty formats, as translating a new mechanical patent into a commercially viable children’s book required further design refinement, prototype development, registration, and coordination with lithographers and binders. The specific construction used here corresponds to DRGM 247833, a utility model registration issued around 1910–1911. The visual style, chromolithography, and paper engineering techniques are also consistent with high-end German novelty books produced in the early 1910s. Taken together, these factors support an estimated publication date of circa 1911.
An advertisement for the invention, showing the matching parrot scene, appears in Extracts from the Patent Specifications, Volume 27, p. 348 (1906):
In the 1905 patent above, Baehr emphasizes the educational value of supplementing flat illustrations with three dimensional forms. In this example, those forms are constructed of delicate gummed tissue paper folded in a collapsible honeycomb structure. Baehr explains that the goal of such picture books is to train a child’s powers of observation by presenting everyday objects and processes in a way that is both visually realistic and easily grasped. By adding three-dimensional forms to otherwise static illustrations, the invention aims to deepen the child’s comprehension and receptiveness, fulfilling the educational role of picture books more effectively than conventional formats.
References
"DRGM Numbers with Year Ranges." Porcelain Marks & More: Germany. Accessed July 12, 2025. https://www.porcelainmarksandmore.com/resources/dates/drgm.php
— Offers a date index linking specific D.R.G.M. numbers to their registration years, confirming 1911 for 247833.
German Patent and Trade Mark Office. “History of the DPMA.” DPMA.de. Accessed July 13, 2025. https://www.dpma.de/english/our_office/about_us/history/index.html
— Provides historical context for Germany’s patent systems, including D.R.G.M. and D.R.P., from 1877 through WWII.
Archiving Industry. New Markings on Vintage Industrial Items: Endnotes. Accessed July 13, 2025. https://archivingindustry.com/Industrydata/archivingindustrynewmarkings-endnotes.pdf
— Explains the meaning of “D.R.P. angem.” as Deutsches Reichs-Patent angemeldet, or “patent pending,” and its relevance as a dating indicator.
Porcelain Marks & More: Germany. “Glossary of German Markings.” Accessed July 13, 2025. https://www.porcelainmarksandmore.com
— Clarifies definitions and distinctions between D.R.P., D.R.G.M., and related registration marks found on early German products.
Baehr, Adolf, and Theodor Sernau. Picture Book with Representations of Objects in Model. GB Patent 190520649A, filed October 12, 1905, and published August 9, 1906. Espacenet. https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/032186602/publication/GB190520649A
About the Publisher: Adolf Bähr & Co.
Adolf Bähr (1875–1943) was a German-Jewish inventor and manufacturer who played a pioneering role in the development of honeycomb-folded pop-up books and other mechanical paper novelties during the early 20th century. Born on January 25, 1875, in Deuben near Dresden, Bähr established himself as an innovator in both decorative hardware and paper engineering. His firm, Adolf Bähr & Co., operated out of Deuben–Dresden and later expanded to multiple locations in Berlin. Through a combination of design patents, educational publishing concepts, and consumer goods, Bähr helped define the mechanical novelty landscape in Germany during a period of industrial and artistic transformation..
Trade directories from the late 19th century list Bähr’s Dresden-area firm as a manufacturer specializing in fittings for cardboard packaging, majolica and glassware, tin toys, and modern photograph frames. An 1886 entry in the Adressbuch aller Länder der Erde describes his firm in Deuben–Dresden as producing "Beschläge für Cartonnagen, Majolika- u. Glaswaren, Blechspielwaren, Spez.: Blechsoldaten" (fittings for cartons, majolica and glassware, tin toys, especially tin soldiers). These listings show Bähr as a craftsman and manufacturer working across the boundaries of decorative arts, packaging, and toy production—fields that would soon converge with his later inventions.
By the early 1900s, Bähr had extended operations to Berlin. A 1905 British patent lists the firm Adolf Baehr & Co. at No. 12 Siemensstraße, Berlin N.W. 87, where he and partner Theodor Sernau filed a patent titled “Picture Book with Representations of Objects in Model.” The invention described a novel picture book in which facing pages conceal collapsible sheets of gummed paper folded in a honeycomb pattern. When the pages are opened, these paper structures expand into three-dimensional models that enhance the flat printed illustrations.
A second patent from the same period (DRP No. 263427) describes a collapsible figure with swinging limbs and a body formed of honeycomb-glued paper—an invention reflecting Bähr’s continued exploration of movable paper mechanics. These inventions placed him at the forefront of mechanical novelty design, integrating educational, artistic, and engineering principles into movable media.
By 1921, the firm’s Berlin address had changed to Ritterstraße 82, Berlin S.W., as shown in an advertisement published in Das Echo: Mit Beiblatt Deutsche Export Revue. This ad promoted the “Wie Du willst – Patent Steh- & Hänge Spiegel,” a patented adjustable mirror sold by Adolf Baehr & Co. and featured at the Leipzig Trade Fair in Specks Hof. The transition from Siemensstraße to Ritterstraße indicates either a relocation or expansion of business operations between 1905 and 1921, and shows that the firm remained active in the patented novelty goods sector for at least two decades.
Adolf Bähr’s business portfolio—ranging from educational pop-up books and collapsible novelty figures to mechanical household items like mirrors—reflects a consistent focus on paper-based engineering and patent-protected innovations. His work bridged traditional decorative manufacturing and early modern industrial design.
As a Jewish businessman living under the Nazi regime, Bähr became a victim of persecution during the Holocaust. He was deported from Dresden to the Theresienstadt concentration camp on January 20, 1943, and died there on June 3, 1943, at the age of 68. His name is recorded in both the Gedenkbuch of the German Federal Archives and the Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. No records of his company’s survival after his death have been found.
Adolf Bähr’s technical contributions—especially his advancement of three-dimensional honeycomb pop-up book mechanisms—remain an important part of early movable book history and paper engineering.
References:
German Federal Archives Gedenkbuch: Adolf Bähr. https://www.bundesarchiv.de/gedenkbuch/en1047164
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), Source ID 49492. https://www.ushmm.org/online/hsv/source_view.php?...
English-language patent: “Picture Book with Representations of Objects in Model,” Adolf Baehr & Co. of No. 12, Siemensstraße, Berlin N.W. 87, 1905
German Patent No. 166117, Class 11d (7 March 1905)
DRGM collapsible figure patent (1905), listed in Deutsche Reichs-Patentblatt
Adressbuch aller Länder der Erde, 1886, p. 734 (Adolf Bähr in Deuben–Dresden)
Trade advertisement for “Wie Du willst – Patent Steh- & Hänge Spiegel,” Das Echo: Mit Beiblatt Deutsche Export Revue, 1921, p. 2769
Berlin Adressbuch entries (matching Ritterstraße and Siemensstraße addresses)
FürthWiki and US toy history databases (used for comparative exclusion of unrelated individuals)
For photos and further comparative analysis, see our listings under the “Books for Sale” section or the “Virtual Museum” archive at VintagePopupBooks.com.
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