Sean's Copy of The New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons

I don't know who Sean may be, but his copy of The New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons (1998) was quite special. It was sold on eBay on September 11. The dust jacket art is by Michael Witte.

The unique feature of the book is the front free endpaper, which has drawings by five New Yorker cartoonists: Arnie Levin, Mick Stevens, Peter Steiner, Roz Chast, and Bob Mankoff. The cartoon census is one dog, one snake, one cat, and two human males. Through Stevens's signature, we learn that this assemblage dates to 1999, the year after publication.

Title page

Facing cartoons by Danny Shanahan and James Stevenson

Cartoons by Tom Cheney and Donald Reilly

Cartoons by Jack Ziegler and, again, Stevenson

A cartoon by Bernard Schoenbaum and the roster of cartoonists in the book

Back cover cartoon by Lee Lorenz

The New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons
eBay listing ended September 11, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/187559204260?_skw=signed+Yorker&epid=512875&itmmeta=01K5QGH0KS6DRRVXFTWR0EVASE&hash=item2bab6655a4:g:Uj8AAeSwlp1owhXH&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA8FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1e0PK9611tjD3x4MYjI0UTSilszT%2BAjheAETZrqA%2BeDAChD4%2FT8ebUMX9wyG4MjDVdGz%2F9u5aSmrgQHn4x%

2FvWoveYnH88BkXfKkbxK5zPDRcoo4VKcQ%2BsNjvVPe5%2BqY0QjPF80xGjBL7hFLoNVd8LEdMpM5NU1iJR7oR4A54NRjgjcjY9JO0tqgMfWR%2FE%2FyCMzLf939jKTQ2vqx3aus%2FC4VW8DFyWkuiJ69jhLyGcV6hsXw4JpWKDhdRF4H1GAymFkp%2Bp4IpH1G%2BAxlBQXNJMqkCu47j6wTvL9BCj%2FQzlwBzQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4KKxPCtZg

The New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons
eBay item description

Note:  I'm just a simple blogger who would like to post other endpaper drawings by other New Yorker cartoonists in other New Yorker books of this ilk. See what you can do.

05073

Donald Reilly: Life Can Be Good

In an original New Yorker cartoon from the summer of 1978, Donald Reilly's boater muses on how "Life can be good . . ."

"Life can be good, I've found. It all depends on the product,
the media mix, and the demographics."
Donald Reilly
Framed original art
The New Yorker, August 21, 1978, p. 27

It's a very breezy, loose drawing.

Donald Reilly's signature

The handwritten caption

Hmm. Is the mite included for scale?

Donald Reilly
eBay listing ended May 23, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/294647743603?_skw=signed+Yorker&itmmeta=01K26BM1S185R71396XZA8CJ7X&hash=item449a5fc473:g:o4YAAOSwUVBhtAvV&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1eFPYSOqLno447W%2B2OBisseB2qi6M%2FAcHEB1hmo2yIHUvlmnPv0b0REDgMt4I237HMk%2B

%2FzTF7wRdJRcwrU0hnPEOsRkOokmWm2cnlNiHaFwF4%2FgNFvbWbjmS%2BkCk%2FmQADwLQwXfmZa5Xe9SRwAScKrne%2F9A6cfMLExslXNzNGChroAz6NHgtHTFf3NujWMvOqZS3Pv9WyctvvxjnRjzI2j4YAdsvL9bb693Q%2FshY82S4Eryll3vaLUnhaRUNeSAMm4%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9yc0MuRZg

The eBay seller may have misspelled the name of this piece's original owner. It seems to have come from the collection of American expressionist painter Harry Shoulberg (1903-1995).

Donald Reily
eBay item description

[End of eBay listing]

"Life can be good, I've found. It all depends on the product,
the media mix, and the demographics."
Donald Reilly
The New Yorker, August 21, 1978, p. 27

"Life can be good, I've found. It all depends on the product,
the media mix, and the demographics."
Donald Reilly
Framed original art
The New Yorker, August 21, 1978, p. 27

With drawings by Dana Fradon and Donald Reilly

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1978-08-21/flipbook/026/

* * *

The clever cartoon on the page opposite is by Dana Fradon.

"Do you know what your problem is? You can only

move one square at a time."

Dana Fradon

The New Yorker, August 21, 1978, p. 26

Checkmate!

05027

Jack Ziegler: In Praise of Mom

Tuesday's Illustration Art auction at Swann Galleries in New York had a generous selection of New Yorker art, including a few pieces by Jack Ziegler. His original cartoon from 1993 is as zany a tribute to motherhood as one could imagine.

"Yessirree, kids, your mother is one heck of a gal!"
Jack Ziegler
Original art
The New Yorker, March 8, 1993, p. 85

The drawing, of course, is exaggerated, the caption somehow understated—a potent combination.

Jack Ziegler
Swann Galleries Illustration Art sale of June 17, 2025

https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/Lots/auction-lot/(NEW-YORKER)-JACK-ZIEGLER-(1942---2017)-Yessirree-kids-your-?saleno=2709&lotNo=173&refNo=830507

Here we see it in the pages of The New Yorker:

"Yessirree, kids, your mother is one heck of a gal!"
Jack Ziegler
The New Yorker, March 8, 1993, p. 85

"Yessirree, kids, your mother is one heck of a gal!"
Jack Ziegler
Original art
The New Yorker, March 8, 1993, p. 85

With cartoons by Dana Fradon and Jack Ziegler

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1993-03-08/flipbook/084/

* * *

Dana Fradon's cartoon uses heavier shading and rougher lines than Ziegler's. I'm convinced that the magazine in those days was very deliberately laid out so that the cartoons on facing pages weren't too similar graphically.

"Good news! We've been selected as a potential
burial site for nuclear waste."
Dana Fradon
The New Yorker, March 8, 1993, p. 84

Note:  Readers are welcome to share images of original Jack Ziegler art on this blog. Yessirree!

04976

Dana Fradon: From the Collection of Paul P. Goldberg

Who wouldn't applaud the industry of comic art collector Paul P. Goldberg, who requested sketches from leading cartoonists over some three decades, maybe more? Dana Fradon, who eventually was to publish almost 1,400 cartoons in The New Yorker, is one of the many who took time out to return Goldberg's postcard. He included a 1978 self-portrait, an ink and wash sketch showing off his period sideburns and bushy eyebrows. He also wished Goldberg good luck, never a bad thing for a serious cartoon collector to have.

Dana Fradon
eBay listing ended January 10, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/176152785167?itmmeta=01HV0BRR6XG51AGSV6JHYWF3JF&hash=item290386310f:g:yVoAAOSwDP5lkZk4

Dana Fradon
eBay item description

Dana Fradon
eBay bid history
There's only one bid. Placing it very late discourages competitive bids.

04616