Papers of Julian Wehr, Accession #12250. Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
Acquisition Information
The Julian Wehr papers were given to the University of Virginia Library by his children, David A. Wehr, Sugar Land, Texas;
Paul E. Wehr, Boulder, Colorado; and Jeanine Wehr Jones, Raleigh, North Carolina on May
31, 2002.
Julian Wehr began working with a lithographing company during his senior year of school, studying drawing and sculpture and
drawing at night. He joined the United States Merchant Marine in 1917-1918, but
returned to the world of art on his return home with wood carving and sculpture. At the Art Students League of New York, Wehr
studied with John Sloan and Max Weber. He and fellow student Marguerite West married
and had a daughter, Camilla.
After a trip to Italy in 1926 where he spent a year in study, he began work with ceramics and the design of metal ornamental
doors. Julian and Marguerite lived in California, eventually divorcing in 1932.
Julian moved to New York City and began a fruitful career in lithography.
He and Juliette Laubinger (1906-1993) married in 1933. Julie Laubinger was a graduate of Evander Childs High School and earned
her degree from Hunter College in 1929. She became an art teacher at Abraham
Lincoln High School in Brooklyn after her graduation.
In 1938, Wehr's animations for children's books were patented as "moving illustrations" that move the picture up and down
and horizontally at the same time with a single movement. His designs were operated by
tabs which are located at the bottom and sides of the pages of the book and moved back and forth through slits in the pages.
As described by his son, Paul Wehr, his patented idea was "a background picture with
parts moved by a tab-manipulated template interlocking those parts. The template was suspended from a fixed point, a rocker
design, permitting the components to move back and forth, up and down, around, in and
out--according to the reader's will." (The quote is from an article by Paul Wehr, "Love's Animation," on a website about the
work of Julian Wehr [http://www.wehranimations.com]).
The first book designed by Julian Wehr to enter the moveable book market in 1942 was The Exciting Adventures of Finnie the Fiddler. The artwork for this title is well represented
in this collection. Most of Julian's work with moveable books was with Duenewald Printing in the years 1943-1946.
The papers of artist and book animator, Julian Wehr (1898-1970), consist of ca. 355 items (2 Hollinger boxes, .5 linear feet),
1885-2004, and undated, and contain animated panels, correspondence, illustrations,
mock-ups for Mother Goose, three compact disks with digital images of his work along with a list of the images digitized by Digital Services, patents
and licensing agreements,
tracings, and artist tools belonging to Julian Wehr.
Animated Panels for
Finnie the Fiddler
(also includes oversize)
n.d.
Box-folder 1:3
Animated Panels for
Jack and the Beanstalk
n.d.
Box-folder 1:4
Animated Panels for Miscellaneous
n.d.
Box-folder 1:5
Animated Panels for
Mother Goose
n.d.
Box-folder 1:6
Animated Panels for
Peter Rabbit
n.d.
Box-folder 1:7
Animated Panels for
Raggedy Ann and Andy
n.d.
Box-folder 1:8
Animated Panels for
The Three Bears
n.d.
Box-folder 1:9
Animated Panels for
Toy Town
and
Toyland
n.d.
Box-folder 1:10
Article--"Love's Animation" by Paul Wehr
2004 Oct
Box-folder 1:11
Book--
Finnie the Fiddler
by Julian Wehr
1942
Electrostatic copy
Other othertype: Compact Discs 0310, 0310-a, 0310-b
Compact Discs containing digital images of Julian Wehr artwork in this collection
ca. 2002 May
Other othertype: Compact Disc 0394
Compact Disc "Julian Wehr: an artist's life through the eyes of his children. "2006
Box-folder 1:12
Correspondence concerning Patents
1941-1951
chiefly with Edward Gottlieb, patent attorney, but also including Maxwell M. Booxbaum, attorney representing Wehr in Ridgefield
v. Julian Wehr; Duenewald Publishing Company; and Jenter Associates
Box-folder 1:13
Correspondence of Julian Wehr and Julie Wehr and Wehr and his editor
1945, n.d.
Box-folder 1:14
Illustrations
n.d.
Box-folder 1:15
Lists of Julian Wehr Tracings and Prototypes copied on compact discs and copies of book covers and other illustrations from
a search for Wehr on the internet
2001-2002
Box-folder 1:16
Mock-up for
Mother Goose
with Animated Pictures by Julian Wehr with original artwork cover
n.d.
26 x 19.5 cm
Box-folder 1:17
Mock-up for
Mother Goose
with Animated Pictures by Julian Wehr with original artwork cover and some prototypes
n.d.
26 x 17.5 cm
Box-folder 1:18
Mock-up for
Animated Mother Goose
with Animated Pictures by Julian Wehr with original artwork cover
n.d.
26 x 17.5 cm
Box-folder 1:19
Patents (printed)
1885-1945
Box-folder 1:20
Patents belonging to Julian Wehr
1940-1950
Box-folder 1:21
Patents and Licensing Agreements
1941-1949
Box-folder 1:22
Photograph of Queen Mary viewing animated
Snow White
and an article concerning Julian Wehr
n.d.
Box-folder 1:23
Tracings for
Animated Antics in Playland, Animated Animals,
and
The Animated Circus
1943, 1946
Box-folder 1:24
Tracings for
Animated Nursery Tales, Animated Picture Book 4 Lively Stories About "Chubby" Billy and "Spotty",
and
Alice in Wonderland
ca. 1943-1949
Box-folder 1:25
Tracings for
Brave Tin Soldier, The Gingerbread Boy,
and
Jack and the Beanstalk
ca. 1943-1949
Box-folder 1:26
Tracings for
Finnie the Fiddler
(also includes oversize)
[1942]
Box-folder 2:1
Tracings for
Little Black Sambo, Raggedy Ann and Andy,
and
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Ca. 1943-1949
Box-folder 2:2
Tracings for
The Little Engine That Could, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,
and
The Three Bears
Ca. 1945-1949, n.d.
Box-folder 2:3
Tracings--Miscellaneous
n.d.
Box-folder 2:4
Tracings for
Mother Goose
(also includes oversize)
ca. 1942-1945
Box-folder 2:5
Artist Tools of Julian Wehr (also includes oversize)
n.d.