Clik here to view.
Charles Addams: Fixer Upper
Publicly exhibited in 1953, Charles Addams's cartoon of a dilapidated house was published in his collection Homebodies (Simon & Schuster, 1954) and later served as the album cover for Ghost Ballads...
View ArticleClik here to view.
James Thurber: In the Office of Dr. Nuss
A drawing by James Thurber set in a doctor's office was sold at auction on Tuesday by Heritage. The name Dr. Nuss is on the door, the letters reversed except for the pesky N. The patient, a woman, is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
James Thurber: The Best Years
My maternal grandparents had separate beds like the ones in a 1935 James Thurber cartoon. I hope they didn't also have conversations like the one shown in the drawing which was just sold in Heritage...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mischa Richter on the Silk Trade
The Japanese silk boycott of 1937-1940 was a protest against Japan's invasion of China. In the Marxist periodical New Masses of July 11, 1939, Mischa Richter draws a fashionable Western woman aiding...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Charles Addams: Uncle Fester Souvenir Drawing
txtCharles AddamsHeritage Auctions, April 25,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #847
The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #847 from the issue of April 24 & May 1, 2023 features a tube man. My caption is shown below. The totally tubular drawing is by Maggie Larson."Let me...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The CartoonStock Cartoon Caption Contest No. 166
"Yeah, I would be willing to bet 75% of the people who play CartoonStock have been finalists in The New Yorker. It's people who are good at it."—Vin CocaThe New Yorker Cartoon CaptionContest Podcast,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Promoting The New Yorker with Its Table of Contents
For its issue of May 3, 1969 (and perhaps for some others) The New Yorker experimented with newspaper promotions showcasing the magazine's noteworthy table of contents. The Journal-News of Nyack,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ronald Searle: Slightly Foxed—But Still Desirable, No. 9/150
Slightly Foxed—But Still Desirable is Ronald Searle's 1989 playful reinterpretation of booksellers' terms. The signed, limited edition of 150 often sells for many hundreds of dollars, but the first ten...
View ArticleClik here to view.
John Hersey: Two Signed Copies of Hiroshima
The New Yorker's issue of August 31, 1946 was entirely devoted to a single editorial piece, John Hersey's"Hiroshima." The landmark article on the nuclear destruction of a Japanese city was published in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lee Lorenze's Copy of Sempé by Jean-Jacques Sempé
In 1984, Denoël published Sempé by French cartoonist Jean-Jacques Sempé in a first edition of 8,000 copies. It isn't commonly seen in the States. Sempé presented a copy to New Yorker art editor Lee...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lee Lorenz's Copy of Think Good Thoughts About a Pussycat by George Booth
Currently available from the Rare Book Cellar in Pomona and listed on AbeBooks is a signed presentation copy of George Booth's 1975 cartoon collection Think Good Thoughts About a Pussycat. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #848
The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #848 from the issue of May 8, 2023 features two gardeners and two high flyers. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Mort Gerberg."I didn't know your...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Eldon Dedini on the Future of Cartooning
A 1996 letter from cartoonist Eldon Dedini (1921-2006) to California school teacher Bruce Becker (1930-2022) gets right to the heart of Dedini's attitude toward his craft. Unfortunately, we don't have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gordon's Copy of Quelques philosophes by Jean-Jacques Sempé
It's a shame that we don't know the true sale price of a copy of Quelques philosophes signed by the great Jean-Jacques Sempé in November 1997 and inscribed to one Gordon. The book's title translates as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Charles Addams: An Uncle Fester Souvenir Drawing
For his many friends and fans, cartoonist Charles Addams created any number of souvenir drawings of his beloved Addams Family characters. Many of them are standing figures like the full-figure sketch...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Anthony Taber: The Puzzle
Back in the 1970s, The New Yorker published the work of some of its outstanding cartoonists in formats that went beyond the single-panel cartoon into more sequential narratives. In those days, the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ronald Searle Illustrates Tom Lehrer: National Brotherhood Week
The cartoons of Ronald Searle (1920-2011) provided the perfect accompaniment to the songs of musical satirist Tom Lehrer (born 1928). There are only a few illustrations published in the 1981 songbook...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sam Gross: Water Jugs and a Pot of Gold
This past week the cartooning world has been remembering the legendary Sam Gross, who died May 6th at the age of 89. His comprehensive filing system catalogued more than 33,800 of his cartoons at the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #849
The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #849 from the issue of May 15, 2023 takes us to a tailor who is waiting on an unusual customer. My caption is shown below. The well-groomed drawing is by Felipe...
View Article