From “East of the Sun, West of the Moon”

Kay Nielsen (1886-1957) was a Danish illustrator popular during the turn of the 20^th century, otherwise known as the “golden age” of illustration. Both of Nielsen’s parents were actors and he grew up in what he referred to as “an intense atmosphere of art.” At the age of seventeen Nielsen went to Paris, where he spent the next seven years studying art at several different schools before heading to London.

From “Twelve Dancing Princesses”

Nielsen’s art was heavily influenced by both John Bauer, a Swedish fairy tale artist as well as Art Nouveau and the Birmingham School. Despite his traditional artistic training, Nielsen was also influenced by Chinese art, stating “I was brought up in a classical view concerning art, but I remember I loved the Chinese drawings and carvings in my mother’s room…” These influences are easily seen in Nielsen’s work, especially his East of the Sun, West of the Moon.

From “East of the Sun, West of the Moon”

Nielsen published several illustrated books revolving around fairy tales and folk lore, including In Powder and Crinoline (Twelve Dancing Princesses), East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and Fairy Tales by Hans Anderson. Nielsen also spent time in Copenhagen painting stage scenery for the theater before heading to California, where he eventually applied for work at Walt Disney Productions.

From “East of the Sun, West of the Moon”

Most of Nielsen’s work for Disney was in the form of concept art, although his artwork was used in the “Ave Maria” and “Night on Bald Mountain” sequences of Fantasia. According to John Canemaker in Before the Animation Begins, “Nielsen’s working pace had always been leisurely, but his vision was so unique that Disney set up an “inspirational assembly line” with Albert Hurter feeding him general ideas. Nielsen would render scenes in pastel in his own style and pass them on to other artists who would supply additional scenes in a similar style or simplified versions for animation guides.” In fact, Nielsen worked on concept art for the Little Mermaid, a film that would not be made for another fifty years. Nielsen’s “leisurely” pace ultimately ended his animation career after only four years with Disney (1937-1941).

From “The Valiant Little Tailor”

Nielsen and his wife remained in California where he lived out the rest of his life in relative poverty, working mostly on murals. In Welleran Poltarnees’ Kay Nielsen: An Appreciation his wife remarked on a mural Nielsen was working on with “Kay is slow…but he plans and he is on time…and as you can see it’s good. He is always good.”

From Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Real Princess”

The Walter Havighurst Special Collections is home to many of the books illustrated by Kay Nielsen, including In Powder and Crinoline, Fairy Tales, and East of the Sun, West of the Moon. I encourage you to come explore his beautiful artwork.

Ashley Jones
Preservation Librarian

The successful landing of the Mars scientific laboratory, Curiosity, has reawakened our fascination with our neighboring planet. Mars has long sparked the imagination of writers and has been the setting for many science fiction adventures. I have pulled together a list of some of those books that we have here in Special Collections.

One of the best known collections of stories about Mars is The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. Bradbury was an American author who died earlier this year. The New York Times obituary reads, “(b)y many estimations Mr. Bradbury was the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream.” The Martian Chronicles was first published in 1950. Our copy was published in 1974 by The Limited Editions Club. Only two thousand copies were made. Our copy is signed by Bradbury and the illustrator.

The Ship that Sailed to Mars by William Timlin is considered by many to be a fantasy classic. Timlin was born in England and later moved to South Africa and was an architect by trade.  This story grew out of bedtime adventures that he told to his son.

Red Star is a Russian science fiction novel written by Alexander Bogdanov about a socialist utopia on Mars. It was first published in 1908. Our copy is an English translation that was published in 1984, that also includes Bogdanov’s novel, Engineer Menni, and his poem, A Martian Stranded on Earth, both about Mars and Martians.

Under the Moons of Mars is an anthology of science fiction romance stories that includes the first story of this genre. It was written by Edgar Rice Burroughs and is titled Under the Moons of Mars.

Through Space to Mars by Roy Lockwood is a novel that was published in 1910. I didn’t find any information about the book but included it because I love the cover.

The Magic Ball from Mars is a juvenile book by Carl Biemiller. It was published in 1953.

To Mars Via the Moon was written by Mark Wicks, an amateur astronomer and member of the British Astronomical Association. It was published in 1911. Wicks wanted to write a scientifically accurate story for a general audience that speculated on what might occur on a space flight to another planet and what might be discovered there. In his preface to this novel he states that he has made every effort “to ensure that this scientific information shall be thoroughly accurate, so that in this respect the book may be referred to with as much confidence as any ordinary textbook.”

The History of the World in Epitome (For use in Martian infant schools.) by Bertrand Russell was published by Gaberbocchus Press in 1962 to celebrate Bertrand Russell’s ninetieth birthday.

Jim Bricker
Senior Library Technician

Like many Americans and sports fans around the world, I’ve been watching hours and hours of coverage of the Olympic Games in London, especially the marquee events in swimming and gymnastics.  So, as the Olympics draw to a close this weekend, I thought it might be fun to see if we had any interesting Olympics or Olympic sport-related materials here in Special Collections.  I started with a search for early works on gymnastics and found Gymnastics for Youth: or A Practical Guide to Healthful and Amusing Exercises for the Use of Schools. An Essay Toward the Necessary Improvement of Education, Chiefly As It Relates to the Body, an 1802 Philadelphia imprint of a German work translated into English by the early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.

This work is largely about integrating physical activity in the education of youth and interprets the term “gymnastics” broadly, including some entertaining examples of exercises, including that gym class favorite: rope climbing.  Thinking about the differences between historical forms of gymnastics and the modern gymnastics performed in the Olympics today, I was surprised to discover that rope climbing was an event in the modern Olympic games as late as 1932!

A student worker brought to my attention that we had a bound volume of the official programs of the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in our collection.

Rope climbing was, in fact, an event in the gymnastics program.  However, the 1932 Olympics were the last time the event was held.

The programs also had wonderful pictures of the star athletes at the Los Angeles Games, including some of the “Aquatic Stars” of the day.  The image below shows some of the female swimmers from around the world.

Enjoy the last weekend of the Olympics and if you miss your Olympics fix, stop up on the 3rd floor of King Library and see this Olympic blast from the past!

 
Kimberly Tully
Special Collections Librarian

Image from "Dinosaurs, A Pop-Up Book"

The term pop-up book is often applied to any three-dimensional book; however pop-up books are really just a subset of the broader category of movable books, which also includes transformations, tunnel books, volvelles, flaps, pull-tabs, pop-outs, pull-downs, and more. Aside from pop-up books, the most common movable book types are transformations – a scene made up of vertical slats and when a tab is pulled the slats slide under and over one another to make a completely different scene; and volvelles – books that utilize rotating parts.

Image from "Pop-Up Mickey Mouse," published in 1933

When people think of movable books and pop-up books, they usually think of books for children; however this was not always the case. In fact, movable books for adults were around for centuries before the techniques were used in children’s books.

Image from "Leonardo da Vinci: a three dimensional study"

It is believed that the first use of movable mechanics appeared in a manuscript for an astrological book in 1306. Most movable books were scholarly in subject matter, including anatomy and astronomy.

Movable books for children did not appear until the 18^thcentury. The first real pop-up books were produced by Ernest Nister (who also produced books focusing solely on vovelles) and Lothar Meggendorfer.

Image from "The City Park" by Meggendorfer

Many of Meggendorfer’s movable children’s books have been reproduced during the 20^thcentury.

A top veiw of Meggendorfer's "The City Park"

While the Walter Havighurst Special Collections holds examples of the many types of movable books, I’ve selected just a few of my favorite, classic style pop-up books to share.

Image from "The Working Camera"

In The Working Camera by John Hedgecoe (published in 1986) the book’s movable parts, including pop-ups, pull tabs, flaps and volvelles, are used to illustrate the many aspects of photography. The image below demonstrates the use of a view finder. The image on the left is the full page in which both the subject and the camera can be seen. The image on the right is what is seen when one looks through the view finder of the pop-up camera.Some of my other favorite pop-up books in the collection are versions of beloved children’s classics. For example, this pop-up version of Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit.

Another favorite is this more contemporary children’s book The Knight’s Castle.

The Walter Havighurst Special Collections is home to over 150 movable books, ranging in subject from the human reproductive system, the British Royal Family, cameras, computers, and architecture to three dimensional versions of the Hobbit, dinosaurs, Cinderella, and haunted houses. You can also find many of Ernest Nister’s transformation and volvelle books from the late 19th century as well as several original and reproduction copies of Meggendorfer’s fantastic works.

Image from "The City Park"

Ashley Jones
Preservation Librarian

“I sometimes wonder if the American people as a whole will ever awaken to the desperate seriousness of the task we are just beginning. Everywhere I go I am impressed by the remoteness with which people view the war. I think it will take a direct attack on our shores to rouse us out of our lethargy. The fact that newspapers are playing up the words “we can lose this war” should help a lot. We must face the facts.” – Private George Seeley, February 22, 1942

In connection with Miami University’s Summer Reading Program and its selection of Jess Goodell’s war memoir Shade It Black: Death and After in Iraq, I’ve been asked to curate a small exhibit on the theme of “War and Remembrance” using selections from our collections.  In her memoir, published in 2011 after her return from service in the Mortuary Affairs unit of the Marine Corps in Iraq, Goodell writes of her experiences recovering and processing the remains of fallen soldiers.  I thought it would be interesting to contrast her experiences with American soldiers fighting in earlier conflicts.  Reading through our various printed and manuscript accounts of American soldiers at war, I was particularly drawn to the story of World War II soldier George Seeley.  Many passages from his letters home and his diary resonated with me, especially as I could imagine American soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq today would have similar reactions to their experiences and talk about them in similar ways.

In February 1941, George Allen Seeley left Miami University, where he was finishing his senior year. After being drafted for service in the United States Army in April 1941, he spent time at various training bases across the US and was then sent to Australia, where he was an Assistant Detachment Commander and Training Officer with the 105th General Hospital of the Army. He stayed in Australia for two and a half years, then ended his assignment at Biak, a Dutch Indonesian island north of New Guinea. Seeley was at Biak during the return of American troops to the Philippines, caring for those troops who were liberated from the Bilibid prison.

During his time in the service, George writes to his parents and to his future wife Peg Fisher and, like in the letter quoted above, shares his thoughts on the state of the war, his responsibilities on the base, and the morale of the troops.  All of George’s letters, as well as his diary and other records of his war service, can be found in the George Seeley Collection in the Walter Havighurst Special Collections.

Information on Miami’s Summer Reading Program can be found here.  A small exhibit with selections from the Seeley Collection will be on display in a special case outside the front doors of the Special Collections department from July 27th through the end of August.

Kimberly Tully
Special Collections Librarian