Bruce Eric Kaplan: Herb's Story

An original New Yorker cartoon by Bruce Eric Kaplan was sold at Heritage Auctions on February 6. It comes from the estate of Irvin Grief, Jr., and is the first work of BEK's to be offered by the auction house.

Herb got in touch with his inner monkey
Bruce Eric Kaplan
Original art
The New Yorker, February 3, 1992, p. 70

The cartoon purports to relate the story of Herb's enlightenment. Of course, it is just plain silly. Or, if you prefer, bananas.

Herb got in touch with his inner monkey
Bruce Eric Kaplan
Framed, original art
The New Yorker, February 3, 1992, p. 70

Paper backing

Twenty days prior to the auction, bidding had scarecely begun.

Bruce Eric Kaplan

Heritage Auctions listing of February 6, 2026, accessed on January 17, 2026

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/mainstream-illustration/bruce-eric-kaplan-american-b-1964-herb-got-in-touch-with-his-inner-monkey-new-yorker-cartoon-february-3-1992-ink-on/a/15263-17135.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515

Heritage identified the correct issue of The New Yorker in which this drawing appeared but it was on page 70, not page 41. Was Herb's inner monkey helping with the research?

Bruce Eric Kaplan

Heritage Auctions item description 

Sold!

Bruce Eric Kaplan
Heritage Auctions listing of February 6, 2026

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/mainstream-illustration/bruce-eric-kaplan-american-b-1964-herb-got-in-touch-with-his-inner-monkey-new-yorker-cartoon-february-3-1992-ink-on/a/15263-17135.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515

The artist's signature, BEK, has been largely obliterated in the original. There may have been a patch over it when it was photographed for the magazine. The banner was rewritten and had a period in the published version. It is a sentence, after all.

Herb got in touch with his inner monkey.
Bruce Eric Kaplan
The New Yorker, February 3, 1992, p. 70

Herb got in touch with his inner monkey
Bruce Eric Kaplan
Original art
The New Yorker, February 3, 1992, p. 70

With a cartoon by Bruce Eric Kaplan

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1992-02-03/flipbook/070/

05258

The New Yorker Book of Christmas Cartoons

It looks for all the world like a mass market Cartoon Bank collection but The New Yorker Book of Christmas Cartoons was published in 2004 specifically for Restoration Hardware. It was priced at $19.95 and must have been sold in the company's stores. The contemporary bookseller's stock image of an embossed blue cover does not resemble the edition I was to receive. That almost makes a little sense, as the synopsis of this online listing instead described The New Yorker Desk Diary 2010 Desk Calendar, but then there are many online copies of The New Yorker Book of Christmas Cartoons which use the same stock photograph.

The New Yorker Book of Christmas Cartoons
AbeBooks listing ended October 17, 2022

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31019785097&searchurl=kn%3DThe%2BNew%2BYorker%2BBook%2Bof%2BCartoons%26sortby%3D17&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title14

The cover is illustrated by Michael Witte, who did the covers for the Cartoon Bank's mass market editions. Many of the standard customized editions in the series simply have a cartoon on the front cover.

The New Yorker Book of Christmas Cartoons

Cover by Michael Witte

The front dust jacket flap leads with a
bedtime  cartoon by Alex Gregory. Then
there is some lighthearted text explaining
the book's reason for being.

The back dust jacket flap has a cartoon by
Charles Saxon.

The back cover cartoon is by Bruce Eric
Kaplan.

Index of Artists

04171

Signed by Five: The New Yorker Book of Cartoon Puzzles and Games

The December 27 issue of The New Yorker is the the first Cartoons & Puzzles issue. As pointed out by Ink Spill this week, that combination of subjects readily brings to mind The New Yorker Book of Cartoon Puzzles and Games published in 2006. One of the best copies of that book I've come across was listed last year on AbeBooks—and subsequently sold. It is signed by five of the contributors, including New Yorker cartoonist and puzzle constructor Robert Leighton, New York Times crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz, then-New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff, as well as Mike Shenk and Amy Goldstein, both puzzle makers from Puzzability.

Signed by Robert Leighton, Mike Shenk, Amy Goldstein, Will Shortz, and Bob Mankoff

The New Yorker Book of Cartoon Puzzles and Games
AbeBooks listing accessed March 27, 2020

https://www.abebooks.com/New-Yorker-Book-Cartoon-Puzzles-Games/30602803706/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=viewbook

Thrift Books - Motor City could use some work on its camera skills. A stock photo gives a better image of the cover. The cartoonists are Roz Chast, Robert Weber, Jack Ziegler, Bruce Eric Kaplan, James Stevenson, Leo Cullum, Gahan Wilson, and Arnie Levin.

Stock Photo

Christoph Niemann
"Give Us a Clue"
The New Yorker, December 27, 2021

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cover-story/cover-story-2021-12-27

Note:  My thanks to Robert Leighton for correctly identifying the cartoonist who drew the cat in the lab coat, James Stevenson. I've got it right now. He also confirmed the occupation of puzzlers Mike Shenk and Amy Goldstein.

03838

David's Copy of The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker

An eBay seller named David reports working at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco when the New Yorker's then-cartoon editor Bob Mankoff and four other New Yorker cartoonists came to give a presentation. Their program promoted The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker (2004) and there was a signing session as well. David picked up a copy.

The book retailed at $60 (but Barnes & Noble advertised it in The New Yorker for $48). Publishers Weekly reported on the book's early success and its promotion, including the road show at the Commonwealth Club:

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20041220/31109-a-heavy-hitter.html

Black Dog & Leventhal, we read, printed 210,000 copies over three printings and budgeted more than $200,000 for book promotion. While I don't pretend to be a math whiz, I can calculate that the publisher was prepared to spend about $1 per copy to promote the book, and this sum included the cartoon editor's tour. The stop in San Francisco was unique in that it included four cartoonists—Leo Cullum, Alex Gregory, Bruce Eric Kaplan, and Jack Ziegler—whose signatures and sketches were difficult to obtain on the East coast. Cullum and Ziegler are no longer with us. Here then is what David had to offer:

Embellished for David by, alphabetically and somewhat clockwise from the top, Leo Cullum, Alex Gregory, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Bob Mankoff, and Jack Ziegler

The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker
eBay listing accessed March 21, 2021

https://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Complete-Cartoons-of-the-New-Yorker-SIGNED-by-the-author-and-4-Cartoonists/303922363754?hash=item46c32f3d6a:g:EZoAAOSw1lBfxVWV

The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker
eBay item description

Negotiation for this book on eBay proceeded over several weeks. A Best Offer of $56 was declined by the seller on March 21, 2021. The book's price increased from $101 to $107 on the subsequent listing, but soon the asking price was gradually lowered, eventually to $83. A new Best Offer of $60 received a seller counteroffer of $70. Finally, a Best Offer of $65 was accepted shortly before the auction closed.

When adjusted for inflation, the original publisher's price for the book of $60 would be $84.13 today. The $48 B&N price translates to $67.31 in 2021 dollars, pretty close to the $65 final eBay sale price.

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/2004-12-20/flipbook/084/

03618

The Deluxe Edition of The New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons

The deluxe edition of The New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons (2018) is distinguished from the regular edition by three portfolios of signed, limited edition cartoon prints by Roz Chast, Bruce Eric Kaplan, and Bob Mankoff. The prints are each published in an edition of 1,000 with printed limitation numbers and original ink signatures. The deluxe edition was first published at $800 but the price has come down to just over $500. Initially there was no way for buyers to know which cartoon prints were included without making the purchase, but now photographs on eBay tell the story.

The deluxe edition has a wider slipcase to accommodate the three cartoon prints:

Many of us in the old school believe limitation numbers should be handwritten and not printed.

The Encyclopedia's compiler, former cartoon editor Bob Mankoff, has included a print of his most famous cartoon.

Roz Chast is one of the magazine's most popular cartoonists:

The New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons
eBay Listing Accessed April 25, 2020

https://www.ebay.com/p/242751296?iid=254448498024

eBay Item Description

Well, no, the book isn't really Anne of Green Gables. Sellers who submit multiple listings can be forgiven such slips. As, I've mentioned once before, the publisher's promotional copy incorrectly cites the earliest New Yorker cartoons as dating from 1924 rather than 1925. This error goes back to 2018 and was never corrected.

There is one and only one product rating and it's 5 stars. This suspiciously positive feedback is from palindromic eBay user zoeyyeoz. Make of that what you will.

Guess what? The only individual to leave feedback, zoeyyeoz, is no longer a registered eBay user.

https://www.ebay.com/usr/zoeyyeoz?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

These three cartoons were originally published in the New Yorker in the 1990s. The printed signatures on all three cartoons were removed for the limited edition to avoid having a redundant printed signature alongside the handwritten one.

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1999-11-15/flipbook/086/

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1995-01-09/flipbook/004/

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1993-05-03/flipbook/050/

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Bob Mankoff

David Remnick

Roz Chast

Bruce Eric Kaplan

The New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons

Attempted Bloggery's Index is Worth Every Penny

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