VERY LARGE AND BEAUTIFUL KUBASTA CHRISTMAS POP-UP, FEATURING FATHER CHRISTMAS VISITING A SNOW-COVERED CZECH VILLAGE WITH HIS REINDEER AND SLEIGH

[KUBASTA, Vojtech]. Christmas pop-up ["Father Christmas"]. London: Artia for Bancroft, circa 1960. Folio pop-up, measuring 9 by 13 inches folded. $950.

First edition in English of this lovely and completely functional Kubasta Christmas pop-up, featuring Father Christmas and his reindeer visiting a snowy Czech village celebrating Christmas with a tree, decorations, and carolers, with front wrapper including a moveable of Father Christmas in which his eyes open and close as the moon comes out.

This beautiful folio pop-up depicts a notably Czech version of Christmas in a Czech town with half-timbered buildings. In the scene, two of Santa's reindeer wait with the sleigh, while Father Christmas delivers a sack of presents through the door of a cozy traditional home. On the other side of the house carolers celebrate the holiday alongside a Christmas tree and a snowman. The included story concerns a family in Lapland and the grandfather's Christmas narrative about Christmas in more southern parts of Europe (like Czechoslovakia). "Kubasta's talent as a graphic artist was to combine a robust graphic style of great charm and humor with a puppet-master's flair for story-telling in three dimensions" (John Michael Dawson). "His distinctive bold and colorful figures, as seen in this work, became increasingly popular. After the Czech publishing industry was nationalized in 1948, Kubasta began creating advertising materials for Czech products abroad that included three-dimensional cards for items such as Pilsner beer, porcelain and sewing machines. Beginning in the 1950s, he developed elaborate paper construction crèches annually each Christmas season… His beautifully designed and intricate pop-ups were later produced from the 1960s-1980s worldwide and became the inspiration for the revival of the pop-up book industry in America" (Stephen Van Dyke, Smithsonian Libraries). "Kubasta's faux-naif style with a Bohemian flavor is somewhat exotic to an American eye" (Ellen G.K. Rubin), and "today, original editions of his illustrations and books are sought after by collectors from around the world" (James A. Findlay). Kubasta's works were all printed in Czechoslovakia using a special pre-war press at the state-run company, Artia Prague. They were then published for various markets, including Great Britain. Early gift inscription on presentation page.

Pop-up bright, fine and fully intact; original boards with only minor wear, very faint pencil prices to front board.