More decluttering

The Model Menagerie. 1896. 
Part of the reason it’s taking me a long time to declutter everything is that there is So Much Stuff from my mum’s house to go through.  And most of it takes ages, either because it’s interesting, or painful. 
This book was given to me when I was small ie mid fifties, and was put away then as it was already fragile. The giver was a man I knew as Mr Close - an elderly friend of my parents - and I imagine he was the child it was given to in 1896 when it was published. It’s a kind of early pop up book. As you turn the pages  - as you can see - a kind of glued tab of paper lifts the page into a 3D representation of a wild animal in a cage.  Of course the subject is really horrible - but there is no doubt that it’s beautifully drawn and made.  And amazing that the ‘pop up’ still works after 128 years. Must be good glue. 
The monkey one features beautiful parrots perching on the bars, and two of the monkeys are happily sharing a banana. I think that’s the best one. The large animals in tiny cages is just sad. That was the attitude then, I suppose, in Victorian times.  Collect animals to amuse the paying public.  No concern about the animal taken into captivity from the wild. 
Definitely going to part with this - to the Oxfam specialist bookshop - who will optimise the funds they can get for it. Nice to have this collage to keep a record of it, though.