Spanish Foldable Dioramas

Title

Spanish Foldable Dioramas

Description

1940? Ten numbered Spanish foldable dioramas in individual envelopes. 3¾" x 4¾". From a set of 19 (and a planned set of 27?). The first seven for £95 from Unicorn Books, Hatch End, Middlesex, April, '98. Three further dioramas for $10.06 each from Libreria Raices, Alicante, Spain, through AbeBooks, May, '24.

These strange and delicate creations witness to the range of places in which Aesop shows up. In each "folding diorama," stiff paper is cleverly folded and pasted so that the result is a folded-over scene with two layers on its lower fold. One of these lower layers is a floor with openings, and the other below includes people and items that emerge through the openings. As an onlooker lifts up the top fold, the characters lying flat on the upper bottom fold rise up and thus give the scene a third dimension. The works are fragile, and few of the characters still stand up well. "The Fox and the Hunters" is in perhaps the best condition of the group. The fable's text and morals are given on the bottom of the lower fold, and on the top of the upper fold is a list of published and to-be-published dioramas. Notice that none of ours come from the promised group between "20 and 27." Did it ever appear? The ten we have are:

· The Hunter and the But (No. 3, but not yet numbered on its own envelope)

· The Fortune Teller (No. 6)

· The Lying Shepherd (No. 7)

· The Miser (No. 9)

· The Monkey and Her Children (No. 10)

· The Mouse, the Frog, and the Kite (No. 11)

· It's Donkey and the Dog (No. 12)

· The Thief and the Dog (No. 13)

· The Fox and the Wolf (No. 14)

· The Fox and the Hunters (No. 17)

Date

1940?

Source

The first seven for £95 from Unicorn Books, Hatch End, Middlesex, April, '98. Three further dioramas for $10.06 each from Libreria Raices, Alicante, Spain, through AbeBooks, May, '24.

Subject

Printed Materials See all items with this value

Dioramas See all items with this value