Lothar Meggendorfer's Internationaler Circus

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Lothar Meggendorfer's Internationaler Circus

Written by Lothar Meggendorfer

Germany, Verlag J.F. Schreiber, 2006

Kerlan Collection, Children's Literature Research Collections

University of Minnesota Libraries

Books with movable elements have a long and surprising history. The earliest known examples were produced in the 14th century as visual aids to advance study of anatomy, astronomy, and even theology. Victorian advertisers used pop-ups to sell stoves; landscape architects, to elucidate their designs for students and clients. Toward the end of the 19th century, as the market for illustrated gift books swelled, the potential for pop-ups as entertaining juvenile fare was realized as well.

The foremost artist/designer to seize the opportunity was Lothar Meggendorfer, a Munich-based satirical illustrator. As exemplified by this remarkable novelty, first published in Germany in 1887, Meggendorfer's robust comic characters and the waggish animated pratfalls he devised for them anticipate the slapstick comedy of silent-film clowns like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.


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The Genius of Lothar Meggendorfer, A Moveable Toy Book

Written by Lothar Meggendorfer

Introduction by Maurice Sendak

London, Intervisual Communications, Inc., 1985

9" x 12"

Gift to the Kerlan Collection from Lauren Stringer

Art of the Picture Book
Randolph Caldecott
Lothar Meggendorfer's Internationaler Circus