Ellen G. K. Rubin
Born
New York, United States
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Author, collector, curator
Spouse
Harold Rubin
​
​
(m. 1966; died 2018)​
Children2
Websitepopuplady.com

Ellen G. K. Rubin is a pop-up and movable book collector known as the "Popuplady". She is best known for her collection of over 9,000 books, including more than 1,000 by the Czech paper engineer Vojtěch Kubašta, as well as for her lectures and research on the history of the pop-up and movable book formats.[1][2]

Early Years

Rubin grew up in the Bronx, New York, and attended the Bronx High School of Science, The City College of New York, and Yale Medical School's Physician Associate Program.

Collections

In the early 1980s, Rubin purchased two Random House pop-up books for her sons, and her fascination with the format led to a lifelong pursuit of pop-up and movable books.[3] While attending the Yale School of Medicine in the 1980s to become a Physician Associate, a friend introduced her to book collecting, and after a visit to the 1988 exhibit "Eccentric Books"[4] at Yale's Sterling Memorial Library, which featured an original copy of Petrus Apianus's Astronomicum Caesareum, Rubin's enthusiasm for pop-ups grew.[2][5][6]

At first, Rubin's acquisitions focused on pop-up books related to children's classics and science and medicine, but quickly expanded to include any and all examples of clever pop-up mechanisms. By 2000, she had acquired around 4,000 books.[7] As of 2018, her collection had grown to more than 9,000 books, along with thousands of pieces of pop-up and movable paper ephemera.[3][2] Her collection encompasses at least 41 languages, including sign language and braille, and many different materials, including a pop-up card made of elephant dung paper by book artist Edward H. Hutchins.[8] The oldest book in her collection is a copy of Johannes de Sacrobosco's astronomy textbook, De sphaera mundi, from 1547.

Rubin's collection focuses especially on Czech pop-up book artist Vojtěch Kubašta. In 2014, she told The New York Times that after encountering his book, Moko and Koko in the Jungle, she decided she "decided that I would collect everything he ever did."[9] She became acquainted with Kubašta's daughter, Dagmar Kubaštová Vrkljan, and contributed to a retrospective exhibition for his work in 2004.[10] She has continued to collect and exhibit Kubašta's work, including a 2014 exhibit at The Grolier Club in New York City and a 2015 exhibit at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.[11][12]

Her library is visited by researchers around the world for the study of pop-up books, volvelles, flip-books, and other kinds of movable paper art both modern and historic.[6] She became a charter member of the Movable Book Society in 1994, and shortly thereafter began writing articles about her collecting for the Society's newsletter, Movable Stationary.[13]

Rubin runs a website, The Popuplady, that Rare Book Monthly called "[p]erhaps the most lively and useful of all the sites devoted to the subject".[14]

Publications

Books by or with contributions from Ellen G. K. Rubin
Title Published Publisher OCLC Notes
The Hanukkah puzzle book: a book in 8 parts ... for 8 days of fun. 2004 Pitspopany Press, New York OCLC 71785509 The eight aspects of Hanukkah featured include lighting candles, finding oil, battles, the Temple, holiday presents, playing dreidel, laws of the King, and the Maccabees. Janet Zwebner, illustrator.
The Movable Book Society: A Celebration of Pop-up and Movable Books 2004 Movable Book Society, New Jersey OCLC 56771276 10th Anniversary limited edition book with reproductions from selected historical creators of pop-up and movable books. Biographies of the original paper engineers were written by Robert Sabuda, Ann R. Montanaro, and Ellen G. K. Rubin.
Ideas in Motion: The History of Pop-Up and Movable Books: Books & Ephemera from the Collection of Ellen G. K. Rubin 2005 State University of New York, Mew Paltz OCLC 60524750 Gallery Guide to the Ideas in Motion exhibit, April 2005, Sojourner Truth Library. 16 pages.
Pop-ups from Prague: A Centennial Celebration of the Graphic Artistry of Vojtěch Kubašta (1914-1992) from the Collection of Ellen G.K. Rubin. 2013 The Grolier Club, New York OCLC 878124693 The 80-page catalog accompanied the exhibition held at the Grolier Club, New York City, January 23 - March 15, 2014.
The Meggendorfer Prize: A Historical Perspective (essay) in The Movable Book Society Meggendorfer Award: Celebrating Paper Engineers, Book Artists & Pop-Up Books 1998-2018 2019 The Movable Book Society, Chicago, IL OCLC 1127650879

Selected exhibits and lLectures

"Brooklyn Pops Up! The History and Art of the Movable Book", co-curated with Ann Montanaro and Robert Sabuda at the Brooklyn Public Library in September 2000.[15]

"Pop-ups, Illustrated Books, and Graphic Designs of Czech Artist and Paper Engineer, Vojtěch Kubašta (1914-1992)" co-curated with Jim Findlay at the Bienes Center for the Literary Arts from January 16, 2004 to March 12, 2005.[16]

"A History of Pop-up and Movable Books: 700 Years of Paper Engineering", a lecture at the Carmichael Auditorium at the National Museum of American History on November 10, 2010.[17]

"Pop-Ups From Prague: A Centennial Celebration of the Graphic Artistry of Vojtěch Kubašta", an exhibit at the Grolier Club in New York City in 2014 and at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in 2015.[9][12]

References

  1. ↑ Philip, Lizzie (26 July 2018). "A Visit With the Popuplady". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 "Collector Spotlight: Ellen G. K. Rubin". Toy Tales. 26 October 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  3. 1 2 Kennedy, Kelsey (15 June 2017). "The History of Movable Paper in One Massive, 9,000-Book Collection". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  4. ↑ Okula, Susan (3 Apr 1988). "These books flip, fold, and pop-up". Green Bay Press-Gazette at Newspapers.com. p. 97. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  5. ↑ Battista, Carolyn (27 March 1988). "More to Some Books Than Their Covers (Published 1988)". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  6. 1 2 "At Home With an Extraordinary Collection of Pop-Up Books". AtlasObscura.com. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  7. ↑ Carvajal, Doreen (27 November 2000). "Boing! Pop-Up Books Are Growing Up; Flaps, Foldouts and Complexities Attract Adult Eyes (Published 2000)". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  8. ↑ "At Home With an Extraordinary Collection of Pop-Up Books". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  9. 1 2 Grimes, William (30 January 2014). "Wizard Who Made Art Jump Off the Page (Published 2014)". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  10. ↑ Kenety, Brian (20 June 2020). "'Pop-up Lady' Ellen G. K. Rubin on the artistry of master Czech illustrator, paper engineer Vojtěch Kubašta". Radio Prague International. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  11. ↑ Grimes, William (30 January 2014). "Wizard Who Made Art Jump Off the Page (Published 2014)". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  12. 1 2 Gowans, Alison (11 Dec 2015). "Prolific Paper Wizard of Prague's magical pop-up books come to Cedar Rapids". The Gazette. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  13. ↑ Society, Movable Book (1993). "Movable stationery". library.si.edu. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  14. ↑ Halas, Susan. "Collecting Pop-Up Books & Movables: An Old Field with New Fans". www.rarebookhub.com. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  15. ↑ Carvajal, Doreen (27 November 2000). "Boing! Pop-Up Books Are Growing Up; Flaps, Foldouts and Complexities Attract Adult Eyes (Published 2000)". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  16. ↑ Kubašta, Vojtěch; Findlay, James A; Rubin, Ellen G. K; Vrkljan-Kubaštová, Dagmar; Chapp, Belena S; Bohning, Gerry. Pop-ups, illustrated books, and graphic designs of Czech artist and paper engineer, Vojtěch Kubašta (1914-1992). Bienes Center for the Literary Arts. ISBN 978-0-9762267-0-3. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  17. ↑ "The Libraries Announces a Series of Pop-Up and Movable Books Lectures – Smithsonian Libraries / Unbound". Smithsonian Libraries and Archives blog. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
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