[ Froebel, Friedrich].

Album de Pliages et de Tissages. [Cover title of this unique album by this follower of Froebel's educational philosophy].

[n.p., France: n.d., ca. 1920.]. The present album focuses on one of the central tenets of Froebel’s theories: the translation of real-world objects into simple shapes and vice versa, which challenges students to think abstractly and creatively. Gifts fourteen (paper-weaving) and eighteen (paper-folding), along with Gift thirteen (paper-cutting), represent an increase in difficulty, as well as an increase in the aesthetic value of the finished products. Froebel valued beauty and artistry in learning, and the later Gifts encourage students to pay greater attention to color, design, and craft. These later Gifts have been particularly influential to figures like Frank Lloyd Wright and Kandinsky, as well as book artists like Barbara Hodgson and Claudia Cohen. With forty-two pages of over a hundred mounted paper-weaving (Froebel Gift number fourteen) and paper-folding samples (number eighteen). Most of the samples are labelled with the real-world items that they are supposed to represent (a hat, a duck, the sun, a wardrobe, and even a remarkably complex folded-paper crab). With a paper insert laid in, outlining the project: “Principe: contraires reliés par les intermédiaires.”. Some samples peeling from the pages. One sample missing (glue marks left behind). A very good, appealing example of a Froebel Gift sample album. Gray flexible card self-wrappers bound with braided cord. Titled in white. 13 x 10 inches. 56 pp. (10 pp. blank). Item #17454

Friedrich Froebel (1782 - 1852), the inventor of the kindergarten concept, developed his Gifts between about 1830 and 1850. These twenty activities, which varied in complexity, were intended for young children to preteens. Many of the Gifts could be fashioned through materials available at home or in any classroom, but publishers like the Milton Bradley Company also distributed the materials for the Gifts in kits for parents and teachers. Through the Gifts, educators were able to use the concept of “learning through play” to teach students abstract reasoning, problem-solving, artistry, and many more skills that would prepare them for a life of creativity and independent thinking.

Price: $1,500.00