How Columbus Discovered America

London: Bancroft & Co, no date. A delightful example of the work of renowned Czech illustrator and paper engineer, Vojtech Kubasta (1914 -1992).

Originally born in Vienna, Kubasta trained as an architect in Prague yet barely practiced, his career interrupted by the invasion of Nazis in the Second World War. Kubašta turned his fine engineering skills towards the creation of pop-up books for children, revitalising three dimensional paper craft techniques that had drifted out of print, in part because of the bombing of the German printing presses but largely due to their expense.

Kubašta's leadership and influence in the field secured his reputation and penetrated the difficult and complex politics of his era. He was granted permission to work for Walt Disney and inspired a resurgence of the ‘pop-up' format in both England and America. 'How Columbus Discovered America' was his first book.

Said to be the first movable book published in Vojtech's Panascopic Model Series all of which were presented in the same format: a single story bound in illustrated heavy triptych boards, the back covers unfolding to reveal pop-ups standing as high as 25 centimetres. Vojtech's work is among the most highly sought after in this genre. Quarto, bound in illustrated colour boards with cloth-backed spine, rotating ship's wheel volvelle revealing a map of Columbus' First Voyage on back cover, 8 pages of text, double-page pop-up diorama with three ships - the Santa María, the Pinta, and the Niña -  set against a tropical backdrop, small crease to upper right corner of the front board, a very good copy.