T is for Turn-up Book

By Prof. Jacqueline Reid-Walsh, Penn State, Video by Jacquelyn Sundberg, McGill Libraries

What is a turn-up book? A brief history

A turn-up book is an interactive booklet that has been engaged with by children and adults from the mid-17th century to the mid-19th century” in England, Germany, and America. The early examples formed part of the “Cheap Print” of the period and were formed by one piece of paper with woodcut illustrations and folded accordion style into four or five sections with liftable flaps. The name likely comes from the instructions for use that were printed as part of the doggerel verse on the paper.   These texts were purportedly religious and moral, although the lesson could be undone by turning the flap in the opposite direction to the instructions. I will return to this point later.

The first known English example is dated 1650 and held in the British Library as part of the Thomason Tracts about the Civil War. It is a single strip of paper, uncut and unfolded, and attached to a large volume. It is called  The Beginning, Progress and End of Man(London, Alsop for T. Dunster, 1650.)  Please see the image gallery at https://sites.psu.edu/play/image-gallery/1650-british.

The religious and moral turn-ups were very popular in America. The strip was gradually turned into a small booklet complete with covers called, with slight variations, Metamorphosis, or, A transformation of pictures: with poetical explanations for the amusement of young persons.  They existed in published and handmade versions, in English and some in German. Please see examples at  https://sites.psu.edu/play/image-gallery/1814-metamorphosis/.

In the mid-18th century, the format was adopted by London printers, especially Robert Sayer, to multiple ends, for he created didactic ones, especially directed to apprentices, and playful ones based on the harlequinade sections of popular pantomimes featuring the high jinks of Harlequin, Columbine and the other comedia d’arte characters and then later used to relay other othe popular stage adaptations such fairy tales.  These were composed of two sheets of paper, with etched illustrations, and available in both uncoloured and coloured versions at twice the price. Please see Harlequin Skeleton 1772 published by Robert Sayer https://sites.psu.edu/play/image-gallery/1772-harlequin-skeleton.

This connection is likely why they were called “harlequinades.”

What had not been known until recently is that there is material evidence that Sayer’s first turn-up book was a religious one. It is housed in the Wellcome Library in London. It is composed of two etched sheets but has not been cut, folded, or assembled. The item is listed as number one in the Sayer and Bennet catalogue of 1775. There are no known published copies. Please see the “Learning as Play Blog” called “First impressions: Seeing the Sayer etched edition of The Beginning, Progress and End of Man circa 1767” posted  June 1, 2024  at https://sites.psu.edu/learningasplaying/

Why is the interactive and playful format important?

As I mentioned in passing at the start, the format of the turn-up book is significant because the flaps can easily be manipulated according to the intent of the text or against it. Furthermore, the horizontal layout of the accordion folds allows for making a few different panel combinations. Engaging with both kinds of transformations, the intentional ones like Adam into Eve, or Eve into a Mermaid, or the apparently unintentional ones such as Adam into a merman and so on continues through all the panels.  This ability emphasizes the playful choices that a reader-viewer-player or “interactor” (Reid-Walsh 2018) can make while experiencing a turn-up book. Although the “upside down” playfulness was first apparent in the earliest religious ones, this is central feature in all the turn-up books–religious and educational, moral,  and stage-based across the 17^th to 19^th centuries. It is a central feature of the interactive design. Afterwards, the title “metamorphosis” became associated with a purely playful book, one of which we have at McGill.

See examples of all of these in action in the video above.

Try it for Yourself!

The best way to understand the different ways that turn-up books can be made is to play with one! We include two templates here that you can print, cut, draw, and assemble yourself.

One-page Turn-up Book Template

This template replicates the manner which early turn-ups were made with images and text printed on a single sheet which was then folded and assembled. Note this is a double-sided template with page numbers showing the correct orientation of the content of each flap. You product will be in this format:

Instructions:

• Print the PDF template below DUAL-SIDED.
• Cut the double-lined portions only, three across the top, and three across the bottom, to create 4 flaps at the top and bottom.
• With the side labelled “Front Interior” facing up, fold down the 4 top flaps along the dotted line.
• Fold up the four bottom flaps. Your flaps should have a small page number in the correct orientation
• Play with your model! Add images to transform
• Last step:(optional) Fold your Turn-up book accordion style.

Two-page Turn-up Book Template

This template replicates the manner which Robert Sayer’s turn-ups were made in two sheets. The images and texts were etched into copper plates, and then printed on two separate sheets of paper. The bottom sheet, in Sayer’s case the sheet with Eve/Mermaid on it, would remain intact as the base. The top sheet, in Sayer’s Case the one depicting Adam, would be cut into panels and each one attached to the base sheet, as you can see in this example from the McGill Collections (see right).

Instructions:

• Print the PDF template below SINGLE-SIDED
• Cut the panels apart on the sheet labelled “Top Sheet.” You will have 8 panels.
• Attach the panels to your bottom sheet with tape, a glue stick, or stitches with a needle and thread (more historically accurate)
• Play with your model! Illustrate your images, or use colour or text to tell a changeable story with every turn of a flap.
• Last step:(optional) Fold your Turn-up book accordion style.