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David Graham Mitchell's avatar

Thanks, Hans. I did mention that the Paper Boat can be evidenced from Japan at an early date! I may write about other (earlier) evidence in a future post ...

I suppose that by 1838 it is also possible that the Brave Tin Soldier's boat could equally well have been a Chinese Junk? A pity there is no illustration to tell us ...

Can I ask you a question in return? I cannot find any evidence of the publication of a Froebelian kindergarten manual that includes paperfolding (or indeed any such manual at all) in Denmark at an early date. It might be that I am using the wrong search terms. Do you know if such a manual exists?

Dave

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Anne Arrowsmith's avatar

Just an observation: the illustrations seem to show a total solar eclipse. The observer on the right can see the sun but the one on the left can't, because of the earth's curvature. And the moon is in front of the sun, so it casts a narrow shadow on the earth. Probably obvious and doesn't at all explain why the boats are paper, so I don't know why I'm saying it, but there you are.

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