Original Children's Book Illustration

Dean & Son was a 19th-century London publishing firm, best known for making and mass-producing moveable children's books and toy books, established around 1800. The firm was the pre-eminent publisher of novelty children's books in London. They were one of the first firms to introduce pop-up books for children—which they were able to publish in large numbers. In the 1860s they invented "living picture" books, "animated" by pulling a tab and moving the pictures.   

At the height of its popularity the Deans employed hundreds of workers, including those hired for its spin-off company, Dean's Rag Book Company Ltd, founded in 1903. The rag book company was formed after Henry Dean invented a way to make books practically indestructible. He filed a patent for “books with cloth leaves” on Dec 18, 1903.

In 1921, Dean and Son was bought out by Odiham's Press and operated under the 'Dean&Son Imprint' trademark. 

Dean & Son Imprint went on to produce several 1930s pop-up books with Walt Disney such as 'Mickey Mouse Presents his Silly Symphonies' and 'Mickey Mouse in King Arthur's Court'.

In 1963 International Publishing Corporation - "IPC” was formed, bringing together rival publishing companies including Fleetway/Odham’s and The Hamlyn Group. While each company continued to operate semi-autonomously, Dean & Son Imprint went under the Hamlyn umbrella.

The Reed Group acquired IPC in 1970 to form the giant global corporation, Reed International. The Dean imprint remained under Hamlyn Group which was now under Reed International.

In 1983, under Reed, Hamlyn combined its own brand publishing division with that of Dean & Son to form Dean's International Publishing. They were called Dean’s International Publishing from 1983- 1986.  

Today Dean & Son is a private company listing Egmont Holding Ltd, the UK's largest children's book publisher, as its sole shareholder.