Chuck Jones: Coyote Catches Road Runner by Tom Shales of the Washington Post

Back in 1975, animator Chuck Jones presented Tom Shales of the Washington Post with the ultimate compliment to a journalist. The original pencil drawing of everyone's favorite persistent coyote at his moment of triumph is available from Argosy Books. 

Chuck Jones
Argosy Book Store listing accessed July 6, 2026

https://www.argosybooks.com/pages/books/337381/chuck-jones/original-sketch-of-wile-e-coyote-with-personal-inscription

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Barbara Shermund: No Time for Crime by Charlotte Murray Russell

No Time for Crime by Charlotte Murray Russell is the eighth book in the Jane Amanda Edwards mystery series. It seems we have some catching up to do. This wartime novel was published in 1945. Original art by illustrator Barbara Shermund was evidently intended for and presumably used as the book jacket. It was sold recently on eBay. The story looks . . . eventful.

Barbara Shermund's signature

Barbara Shermund
eBay listing ended May 9, 2026

https://www.ebay.com/itm/147302644383?_skw=signed+Barbara+Shermund&itmmeta=01KWTHRV3FAE4AEX6A2XYWW49Z&hash=item224bebfa9f:gdl0AAeSwrWdp~3fz&itmpr

p=enc%3AAQALAAAA8GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xCsSUjLc3wconGa9uSHF%2FrZmy4YfKX%2FGF7g%2BRPwRUqmyrsK%2B5pwvwV6EHk2EL9%2B4IWWYeDlW%

2B8xSDEFNKiJez0JrWlEir7vWlz4JlEORlgMqqs%2B%2FnA%2BiBL4%2FiCwiYFEcyWZPlIZE4y44trinARGHYqWayWtqhqysrJB6HPL8Jrdtm2x1LeLnq

3pmx8x5PqhqEWpKtLSh1zBpIWx1AoHSLfFcoIpxPMzGMT9GYvNlDn05DS7Js5CO0zv3%2FJVCdJei08nt2D73t%2FGnSDnH0pPBTSRrq1%2Fk

6G4JX1pNMRWTAAtqQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_Kx49HmZw

Barbara Shermund
eBay item description

Note:  After scarcely more than eighty years, you'd think it was a simple enough thing to find an image of the dust jacket, right? Despite my alleged Googling skills, I've come up with nothing so far. Perhaps someone else can do better. 

The book is reviewed not unfavorably in the New York Times here.

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The D'Oench Family's Copy of The Chas Addams Mother Goose

An interesting copy of The Chas Addams Mother Goose (New York: Windmill Books, 1967) came up on the AbeBooks platform this past May, offered for $700 by a Middlebury, Vermont, bookseller named—I kid you not—Browsing Is Arousing. The book was described as signed and inscribed by Charles Addams with an original drawing of a hockey player. The only seller image, alas, was a tiny thumbnail of the front dust cover which only got blurrier when enlarged.

The Chas Addams Mother Goose

AbeBooks listing accessed May 11, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/Charles-Addams-Mother-Goose-DRAWING-INSCRIPTION/32414355675/bd

I was quite naturally intrigued by all this but I was
unwilling to commit $700 to this book as I sometimes
do in my Sight Unseen ventures. This time I wanted
to see this hockey player to make certain it was the
genuine work of Addams. The seller complied with my
request for an image, explaining that the endpaper
was a deep blue and that he had eliminated the color
from his image.


The handwriting and signature struck me as genuine, as
did the drawing. I was delighted to see that the hockey
player is none other than Pugsley of the Addams Family.
Addams signed it in the year of publication. So I went
ahead and bought the book, taking it off the AbeBooks
market: 

Here then are my own images of the book. Write if you prefer thumbnails. 

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Sail4th 250 Parade of Sail: Class B Tall Ships

On July 3, the Sail4th 250 Parade of Sail came down the East River with Class B tall ships from around the world. These traditionally-rigged schooners and sloops are less than 40 meters in length. They operate under motor power. They proceded from the Hell Gate Bridge to Gravesend Bay in Brooklyn. The larger Class A tall ships with square-sail rigs will be seen on parade in the Hudson River on Independence Day. These photographs were taken from the East River Esplanade by my family members and me in 100 degree heat. Roosevelt Island and a few other areas of Queens may be seen in the background. 

South Street Seaport Museum

Gadzooks

U.S. Coast Guard

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Anatol Kovarsky: Fourth of July Fireworks at Coney Island

Anatol Kovarsky's New Yorker cover for the issue of July 6, 1963, shows a lone fireworks barge off Coney Island illuminating the night sky on the Fourth of July. The original art was sold by the CartoonBank on November 14, 2006 with a letter attesting that its value at the time was $9,000, presumably the selling price. This spring it came to eBay professionally framed alongside the printed magazine cover.

The colors in the waves off Coney Island may have faded over time. It is also possible that the colors were enhanced in The New Yorker's printing process.

The seller's asking price on April 1 was $12,000 or Best Offer. 

Anatol Kovarsky
eBay listing accessed April 1, 2026

https://www.ebay.com/itm/306850543292?

Anatol Kovarsky
eBay item description

The seller was apparently new to the auction site. Within a day, the price was cut in half.

April 2

By April 7, the price was reduced another $200.

April 7

Next came $5,200:

April 9?

The seller next raised the price to $5,500, in order to make a seller offer of $500 off. Thus it sold on April 19 for the seller offer of $5,000.

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