Robert Benchley's Copy of The Making of a Magazine: A Tour Through the Vast Organization of The New Yorker by Corey Ford

It was the humorist Corey Ford who gave the name Eustace Tilley to The New Yorker's dandy peering at a butterfly through a monocle. Rea Irvin drew him on the cover of the first issue, of course, but it was the illustrator Johan Bull who depeicted him in Ford's satirical history The Making of a Magazine: A Tour Through the Vast Organization of The New Yorker (1926).

Robert Benchley's copy was inscribed to him by Ford. It was offered on eBay in August for $700. The price was slowly lowered until the book sold for $275 in late November.

Corey Ford
eBay listing ended August 28, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/116744600621?itmmeta=01K4TTMQGXRKAKXDWCYJ1MQME3&hash=item1b2e853c2d&pfm=1

Corey Ford
eBay item description

Sold!

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Eustace Tilley New Yorker Cufflinks

A pair of vintage cufflinks feature The New Yorker's mascot Eustace Tilley more or less as he appeared on the magazine's first cover by Rea Irvin. The iconic design from 1925 has been rendered freehand in enamel and mounted on sterling silver cufflinks. Thus the two cufflinks differ slightly. The pair were sold September 15 on the eBay auction site.

The articles weigh in at 26.8 grams.

AL is either a jeweler's hallmark or, less likely, the prior owner's initials.

The cufflinks are unusually thick.

There is apparently writing in Hebrew along the side.

Eustace Tilley Cufflinks
eBay listing ended September 15, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/236325473892?/

Eustace Tilley Cufflinks
eBay item description

I don't know why a $0.00 sale price appears here, but the cufflinks were originally listed at $45 and the buyer paid $42.

A similar pair of these was listed on Ruby Lane but is no longer available. Again, each cufflink is painted slightly differently.

https://www.rubylane.com/similar/1805888-R3160/

Note:  Of course, I'd love to learn more about these hand-painted curiosities. Perhaps someone will recognize the handiwork.

Meanwhile, the new owner of the eBay set has gone public in a companion post to this one here.

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eBay 101: Know Your New Yorker Cover Artists

Readers of this blog are no doubt familiar with the classic depiction of Eustace Tilley which graced The New Yorker's first cover in 1925. The artist, of course, was Rea Irvin and the cover was reproduced annually until 1994. Take, for example, the 1964 anniversary issue, as currently listed on eBay:

Rea Irvin
The New Yorker, February 22, 1964

Call me snobbish for saying so, but eBay sellers who deal in back issues of the magazine should be able to learn the essential cover illustrators. Even if they do not, the information is certainly easy enough to look up in any number of ways. At any rate, there is no excuse for the title of this eBay listing, which manages to misidentify the cover artist as Peter Arno:

"Peter Arno"
eBay listing accessed June 27, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/285478516795?_skw=Peter+Arno+1979&itmmeta=01JYP5W9CDBJFWAAQ7MHRD1VCH&hash=item4277d8783b:g:jxEAAOSw7Z1k~eEV&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1dr%2Bgjdr7NifKuHmKjLroHJAVdMZ0iuACmbatf5ISNs9ntbwtf6iIzRh%2BR%2FHobs0bDCz0jA

aR7ZmFwtmmgVwytrVn9YPGfxT8H69d%2F6lrW9ySYeuwt5gWjxUbQBAT9GhidC%2BaXhvfDTBO2FY5twj7ko0ZYgpObVFfDcy%2BU%2BIt2Uo%2BpfQBPPo4trLxkN9%2F5DKL7dJsilvkakcRlfh1wEhAgxhweDU6J%2BXhz3zqNCetKJwVrARhieV%2F1mdZdtEXriSnc%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR6aW8cX1ZQ

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R. O. Blechman at "Drawn From The New Yorker: A Centennial Celebration"

One of the many pleasures currently on view at the Society of Illustrators is R. O. Blechman's original art for The New Yorker's 1996 anniversary issue. It is, of course, a witty variation on Rea Irvin's classic Eustace Tilley cover. Who says a woman can't be as effete holding a monocle as a man? This is just a single piece from the exhibition "Drawn From The New Yorker:  A Centennial Celebration."

Eustacia Tilley
R. O. Blechman
The New Yorker, February 26 & March 2, 1996

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The 1945 Eustace Tilley Printing Plates: "Covering The New Yorker"

The exhibition "Covering The New Yorker" is currently on view at L'Alliance New York. The show is curated by art editor Françoise Mouly and co-curated by Rodolphe Lachat in celebration of the magazine's centennial. The display focuses on original cover art that has appeared over the past thirty years under this art editor's tenure, as the signage at the entrance makes clear. Still, there are some surprises in store, including the copper plates used to print color separations of the cover of the 1945 anniversary issue. 

Icon

Christoph Niemann

Eustace Tilley:  The Face of The New Yorker

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