A History of Pop-up and Movable Books: 700 Years of Paper Engineering

Ellen G. K. Rubin discovered pop-up and movable books when she began reading them to her sons over 25 years ago. Today, she has more than 6,500 books and thousands of uncataloged movable ephemera. While at Yale Medical School's Physican Associate program in 1987, she attended the Sterling Library's exhibition on the history of movable books. It was there that she learned about the scholarly dimensions of her passion. Ellen now lectures and writes about her books, conducts workshops, and curates exhibitions. In 2000, she co-curated Brooklyn Pops Up! The History and Art of the Movable Book at the Brooklyn Public Library. She is a charter member of the Movable Book Society and writes for their newsletter and is a member of the Grolier Club. Ellen hosts her website, The Pop-Up Lady. to disseminate information on the subject.

This lecture, originally delivered on November 11, 2010 was given in conjunction with the Smithsonian Libraries' exhibition Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn