Matthew Paris (1200-1259), was an English Benedictine monk credited with the earliest known use of flaps and volvelles (moveable circles) in the book Chronica Majora (1235-1259). The book consists of two volumes packed with illustrations and maps chronicling major historic events from the creation of the world to 1259.

Johann Amos Comenius (1592 - 1670), a Czech educator, is considered the father of modern education. His book, Orbis Sensualium Pictus ("Illustrated World of the Senses," published in Nuremburg, Germany in 1658), is considered the first picture book geared specifically towards the way children learn. It was not a movable book, but set the groundwork for children’s books, a genre in which movables eventually excelled.

William Grimaldi (1751 -1830) and Stacy Grimaldi (1790-1863), a father and son team based in England, developed another kind of lift-the-flap book using hinged pieces of paper cut in the shape of everyday objects.

Dean & Son Publisher (active mid-1800s), London novelty book publisher, mass-produced movable books for children. Their publications used a slotted sheet with a pull tab to create a transformation from one picture to the other They also created stand-up pictures that became vertical with the pull of a string.  

Fleeing wars in Prussia, Raphael Tuck (1820 – 1900)  settled in England and set up Tuck & Sons in 1866. When the printer/publisher released the Father Tuck Mechanical Series in the 1890s, they were the first publisher to seriously challenge the popularity of Dean & Son in the children’s pop-up market. Tuck & Sons set up editorial and design studios in London, Paris, Berlin, New York, and Montreal but their printing operations were in Germany. The main office in London was destroyed in 1940, but the company survived World War II. Tuck & Sons functioned from 1866 until 1959, when it was absorbed into the British Printing Corporation. 

John McLoughlin began publishing a collection of semi-religious tracts in New York for children in 1828. John Jr. took over in 1850 and managed to obtain the printing blocks of a successful  NY toy book publisher which allowed them to reissue Edward Dunigan titles. Eventually the company became known for brightly colored hand-painted paper toy books.  1855 John Jr’s brother, Edmund joined the business. McLoughlin Brothers (1855 - 1920) was America’s first pop-up book publisher. They produced the popular Showman's Series which often featured exotic locations and animals. The company was sold to Milton Bradley in the 1920's.

Harold B. Lentz of Blue Ribbon Books Publishing copyrighted the term Pop-Ups in the 1930's to advertise a series of colorful movable books for children. 

Jolly Jump Ups first appeared in 1939. Their production during wartime resulted in patriotic themes and an idealized “All American” family. The Jolly Jump Ups were designed by Geraldine Clyne, one of the few women mentioned in the early history of movable books. Clyne's designs usually used a single sheet of paper due to the need for an economic use of materials during the war effort. 

Waldo “Wally” Hunt (1920 - 2009), American advertising agent and book publisher, coined the term "Paper Engineer" to describe the designers of pop-ups and movable paper mechanisms. He is credited with being the catalyst for the second golden age of pop-ups. In 1965, Hunt started Graphics International, a company focused on the production of pop-ups. He would eventually sell Graphics International to Hallmark and open Intervisual Communications were many contemporary pop-up engineers learned their trade or received their first opportunity to publish

Ann Montanaro (1942 -), libraian, founded the Movable Book Society in 1993 for collectors, paper engineers, book artists and librarians working with moveable books. She is pictured here (on the right) with Ellen G. K. Rubin, founding member and pop-up book historian.