Panorama Books

Panorama books were first published in the middle of the 19th century. There are different types of Panoramas. First, there is the Panorama that consists of a colourful array of folding pictures that, when fully extended, can measure about 20 times the size of the book (e.g. Diverting History of John Gilpin, Read & Co, 1850). Another type of Panorama, also referred to as Peep-show or Scenic Book, is composed of cut-out figures and scenes aligned one behind the other, giving a three-dimensional effect. In the earlier English copies by Dean from the 1850s, the layers of people and background all lie flat and face downwards, and each layer is fixed to the next by a piece of ribbon which emerges behind the uppermost portion. When this ribbon is pulled the whole scene springs up into perspective (e.g. Little Red Riding Hood). Other Panoramas are based on the peep-show idea in that several layers, consisting of background, people, and various objects, are extended manually to create the three-dimensional effect (e.g. Summer Surprises, Raphael Tuck, 1896), or are automatically pulled into perspective as the page is opened, because the layers of the picture are linked to the facing page by a tab (e.g. Wild Animal Stories, Ernest Nister, 1890s).

In the 20th century, yet another type of Panoramas or Peep-Show books appeared. These books consist of a number of fold-out scenes which can be tied with a ribbon or paper flap to create a circular display. Very nice examples of these circular Peep-Shows are the Krenn's Theatre Albums from the 1940s.

Click image to continue with the Pull-Tabs