A Letter From Jean-Jacques Sempé to Angelo Rinaldi

A letter from the year 2000 consists of a mailing envelope and its contents: a signed and inscribed postcard as well as a signed and inscribed note with a drawing of three men seated in a restaurant. The group of papers is offered for sale by AbeBooks seller L'Ancienne Librairie and is priced at $1,672.78 US. No doubt that considerable cost is because the sender, Jean-Jacques Sempé, was the extremely popular cartoonist based in Paris. In addition, the recipient of the mailing, Angelo Rinaldi, was the French writer and literary critic who passed away in May of 2025. The envelope is addressed to Rinaldi care of his publisher L'Express and it appears to be appropriately stamped and postmarked.

The French listing has been rendered in English by Google Translate:

Jean-Jacques Sempé
AbeBooks listing accessed February 15, 2026, translated by Google

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/Dessin-originale-sign%C3%A9-carte-postale-autographe/32390746684/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook

Jean-Jacques Sempé
AbeBooks item description, translated by Google

Note:  Any reader who was fortunate enough to be one of Sempé's correspondents is invited to share his missives on this blog.

05202

Edward Koren: A Bucket for a Giant Frog

Some original illustrations make no sense without the context of their original purpose. One can enjoy, surely, Edward Koren's undated illustration of a man in a checkered suit presenting the contents of a bucket to a giant frog and still not understand what it signifies. Heritage Auctions, which sold this artwork in 2016, said the man in the picture was feeding the frog. He could also plausibly be offering hydration or a chance to wash up. Whatever the case, we are unlikely to know without seeing how the illustration was used in print. It does look a bit like a TV Guide drawing, but really it could have appeared almost anywhere.

Edward Koren
Heritage Auctions listing of October 9, 2016

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/illustrations/edward-koren-man-feeding-a-giant-frog-illustration-original-art-undated-/a/121641-12080.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ThisAuction-120115#

Edward Koren
Heritage Auctions item description

Note:  Any reader who can shed some light on the intended use of this illustration and where it may have been published is encouraged to come forward.

05201

Blog Post No. 5200: A Charles Addams Movie Theater Scream

Original Charles Addams art published in The New Yorker issue of February 8, 1947 shows a theater full of moviegoers and their shared reaction to a big screen scream.

Charles Addams
Original art
The New Yorker, February 8, 1947, p. 27

Seventy years after publication, the artwork to this classic cartoon was sold at Swann Auction Galleries in the Illustration Art sale:

Charles Addams
Swann Galleries listing of December 14, 2017

https://www.swanngalleries.com/auction-lot/the-new-yorker-cartoons-charles-addams.-movie_2424b90934

Swann, it will be noted, did not provide the publication date in The New Yorker, or even the year. They did document the drawing's appearances in three Addams collections, but the 1947 book is correctly titled Addams and Evil.

Charles Addams
Swann Galleries item description

With such a classic original selling for $31,200 (including the 30% buyer's premium), well above the 2017 presale estimate of $12,000 to $18,000, one might wonder what an Addams rough drawing of the same subject might be worth in today's market. Well, thanks to Swann Galleries's recent Illustration Art sale, we actually can provide the answer. An unusually detailed pencil study from a Vermont collection went up on the auction block in December of 2025. Perhaps the owners were aware that Swann had sold the original finished drawing eight years earlier.

Charles Addams
Preliminary art
The New Yorker, February 8, 1947, p. 27

Charles Addams
Swann Galleries listing of December 4, 2025

https://www.swanngalleries.com/auction-lot/_C17DDFE222

Despite the above, the correct date of publication in The New Yorker is February 8, 1947, as I've already indicated.

Note that in the intervening years, Swann's top buyer's premium has come down from 30% to 27%. There's something to be said for competition. Still, $9,525 with said premium is a remarkable price for a New Yorker rough. Indeed, many Addams New Yorker originals in this blog's archives have sold for less than that. Today, though, Addams's work continues to appreciate and that seems to be carrying over even to the roughs.

Here's the relevant page from Addams and Evil (1947):

https://dn790006.ca.archive.org/0/items/HumorMagazines/Addams%20And%20Evil%20(1947).pdf

And here's a grouping showing how the drawing appeared in rough form, in the original art, and finally in the pages of The New Yorker:

Charles Addams
Preliminary art
The New Yorker, February 8, 1947, p. 27

Charles Addams
Original art
The New Yorker, February 8, 1947, p. 27

Charles Addams
The New Yorker, February 8, 1947, p. 27

With a spot drawing by Morris Neuwirth and a cartoon by Charles Addams

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1947-02-08/flipbook/026/

* * *

I have a fair degree of confidence that the spot artist on the page opposite the Addams drawing is Morris Neuwirth (1912-1985) and that the toll lanes depicted here relate to something built by Robert Moses.  Some of Neuwirth's work is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Stop Pay Toll
Morris Neuwirth
The New Yorker, February 8, 1947, p. 26

The Attempted Bloggery Centennial Posts 💯
Blog Post No. 100
Blog Post No. 200:  A Shaggy Dog Story

Blog Post No. 300:  From the Libraries of Searle, Koren, Booth, and Saxon

Blog Post No. 400:  The Attempted Bloggery Quiz

Blog Post No. 500:  The Second Attempted Bloggery Quiz

Blog Post No. 600:  What I Do When I'm Not Blogging

Blog Post No. 700:  The Many Hazards of Blogging

Blog Post No. 800:  Think Locally, Blog Globally

Blog Post No. 900:  The Blog I Was Meant to Write

Blog Post No. 1000:  Happy New Year, Lurkers and All!

Blog Post No. 1100:  The Power of Google

Blog Post No. 1200:  The Ukrainian Situation

Blog Post No. 1300:  Plus-Sizing the Readership

Blog Post No. 1400:  New Goals for an Old Blogger

Blog Post No. 1500:  The Wisdom of Warren Buffett 

Blog Post No. 1600:  "The Big Bang Theory's" Homage to Charles Addams

Blog Post No. 1700:  The New Yorker Apocrypha

Blog Post No. 1800:  The Wrong Bag

Blog Post No. 1900:  Think Good Thoughts About George Booth at 90

Blog Post No. 2000:  Charles Addams and the Birth of a Rare Book Collector

Blog Post No. 2100:  Eustace Tilley in Leotards

Blog Post No. 2200:  Peter Arno Drawings from the Estate of Frank Modell

Blog Post No. 2300:  Peter Arno—Not for Attribution

Blog Post No. 2400:  Sizzling Platter Chatter

Blog Post No. 2500:  E. Simms Campbell in Color—Esquire Cartoons from 1935

Blog Post No. 2600:  Peter Arno—You're Welcome?

Blog Post No. 2700:  Peter Arno and Charlie Chaplin Shipyard Gags

Blog Post No. 2800:  George Price's House Rules

Blog Post No. 2900: My Copies of The Ultimate Cartoon Book of Book Cartoons
Blog Post No. 3000:  The Vatican Museums 2019
Blog Post No. 3100:  Frank Beaven's Dickensian Christmas
Blog Post No. 3200:  St. Patrick's Day 1938—Will Cotton Original New Yorker Cover Art
Blog Post No. 3300:  "Give Up?" by Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Blog Post No. 3400:  The 1942 Navy Relief Show Program
Blog Post No. 3500:  William Steig's "What is Art?"

Blog Post No. 3600:  Ronald Searle's Slightly Foxed—But Still Desirable, No. 3/150
Blog Post No. 3700:  Peter Arno's Changing Point of View
Blog Post No. 3800:  Good Provider Cartoons in The New Yorker
Blog Post No. 3900:  Peter Arno's Cad Confrontation

Blog Post No. 4000:  George Booth's Last Call for Stuffed Peppers

Blog Post No. 4100:  The American Theatre's Carnival for Britain

Blog Post No. 4200:  The First New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest?

Blog Post No. 4300:  Visiting the Site of Charles E. Martin's New Yorker Cover of April 14, 1973

Blog Post No. 4400:  Admiring  Nature—Saul Steinberg Preliminary New Yorker Cover Art

Blog Post No. 4500:  Peter Arno's Whoops Sisters Dancing with Twins

Blog Post No. 4600:  Anatol Kovarsky's A Midsummer Night's Dream Scarf for Richard A. Farrar

Blog Post No. 4700:  Peter Arno's Rebecca and the Wounded Ivanhoe

Blog Post No. 4800:  Saul Steinberg, Artist

Blog Post No. 4900:  Peter Arno's Great Names Contest

Blog Post No. 5000:  Peter Arno's Side-Show for February 1937

Blog Post No. 5100:  Anne and Sergio's Copy of Edward Koren's Are You Happy?

05200

Keith's Copy of Inked by Joe Dator

Inked: Cartoons, Confessions, Rejected Ideas and Secret Sketches from The New Yorker's Joe Dator (2021) is by none other than . . . The New Yorker's Joe Dator. Keith's copy was inscribed by Joe in 2023 with an original sketch of the character Walter. This year marks Joe's twentieth at The New Yorker, and we're all the better off for it.

05199

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #978

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #978 from the issue of February 9, 2026, a man opens his front door to let in an ocean wave while a woman inside the house stands on a surf board awaiting its arrival. The man speaks. The drawing is by Michael Maslin.

"I left the back door open."

These captions didn't hang ten:

"Cowabunga."
"Be back for dinner. I'm making fish."
"Is this one gnarly enough?"

Note:  In 2019, Michael Maslin wrote a Personal History about his (and other New Yorker cartoonists's) use of the versatile caption "It's for you." Read it here. After all, it's for you.

05198

Peter Arno: The Fireman's Pledge

An early cartoon original by Peter Arno was sold by Clarke Auction Gallery of Larchmont in 2020.

"Now remember your promise!"
Peter Arno
Original art
For Members Only (1935)

Arno imbues the rescue scene with all the bawdy innuendo he can muster. That fireman is surely brave, but he is no match for the mature, stout, playful, woman descending the ladder in her flimsy nightgown.

"Now remember your promise!"
Peter Arno
Framed original art
For Members Only (1935)

Alas, there is some surface loss to the original.

Conveniently, a caption has been written on the back: "Now remember you promised!"

The back of the frame

The handwritten caption differs slightly from what is printed in For Memebers Only.

The caption

Peter Arno
Clarke Auction Gallery listing of April 26, 2020

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/peter-arno-american-1904-1968-now-remember-50-c-01241b78bb

Peter Arno
Clarke Auction Gallery item description

https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/clarke/fine-art-jewelry-antiques-asian-midcentury-auction-5040?page=2#catalog

Febrary 11, 2026 Update:  The cartoon was published in the 1935 collection Peter Arno's For Members Only with the caption "Now remember your promise!" I therefore have corrected the caption slightly from "Now remember, you promised!"

05197

Peter Arno: The Fireman's Farewell

In a 1939 New Yorker cartoon, Peter Arno's firefighter bids farewell to a befuddled homeowner:

"Well, if you ever need us again just give us a ring."
Peter Arno
Original art
The New Yorker, June 17, 1939, p. 18

The cartoon reads left to right, foreground to background. The firefighter is the most prominent and the most illuminated figure. He is leaving the scene, but he leans back into the cartoon panel with a raised arm. You can't miss him. The poor, portly homeowner in his robe is seen next seemingly trying to lean back out of the frame. There is no place for him to go. The smoldering ruins of the home are behind him. The firemen have left behind great reflecting puddles of water in the middle ground. The birdcage is a fine comic detail which may or may not be noticed later. Anyone whose eyes linger over an Arno drawing can expect to be rewarded.

The original art, framed and matted, was sold yesterday at Heritage Auctions. It was the useful practice of Barbara Nicholls of the Nicholls Gallery in the 1970s and 1980s to write the caption on the matte in a calligraphic hand. No doubt Irvin Greif, Jr., purchased the artwork from her. Her ink has faded over the years more than Arno's.

"Well, if you ever need us again just give us a ring."
Peter Arno
Framed original art
The New Yorker, June 17, 1939, p. 18

On the back of the artwork, The New Yorker's founding editor Harold Ross approved the drawing with his customary R. 

Verso with Ross's R

Bidding opened at $1,250 some three weeks before the sale with no reserve. The first bid appeared quickly, proof, if any were needed, that Arno's star continues to shine bright in the firmament of New Yorker cartoonists.

Peter Arno
Heritage Auctions Mainstream Illustration listing of February 6, 2026

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/mainstream-illustration/peter-arno-american-1904-1968-just-give-us-a-ring-new-yorker-cartoon-june-17-1939ink-and-wash-on/a/15263-17108.s?ic2=mytracked-lotspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyTrackedLots-101116

Peter Arno
Heritage Auctions Mainstream Illustration item description

The work sold for $5,000 plus a 25% buyer's premium of $1,250. In other words, the final buyer's premium was the same as the amount of the opening bid.

Here's how it appeared in the magazine:

"Well, if you ever need us again just give us a ring."
Peter Arno
The New Yorker, June 17, 1939, p. 18

"Well, if you ever need us again just give us a ring."
Peter Arno
Original art
The New Yorker, June 17, 1939, p. 18

With a cartoon by Peter Arno and a spot drawing by Victor de Pauw

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1939-06-17/flipbook/018/

* * *

On the page opposite, Victor de Pauw's spot drawing of a railway station is as unassuming as Arno's cartoon is bold.

Spot drawing of a railway station
Victor de Pauw
The New Yorker, June 17, 1939, p. 19

05196

The CartoonStock Cartoon Caption Contest No. 202

In the CartoonStock Caption Contest number 202, a creature I take to be Bigfoot is giving a statement to the news media. He is the speaker. The cartoonist is Bill Whitehead.

The rules of the monthly cash prize contest have not changed: Five dollars buys up to three entries. Real cash prizes are $500 for first place and $100 for each of five runners up. As of this writing, I've put $235 into the first forty-seven pay-to-play contests and this forty-eighth challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $240. Having achieved runner-up status with three previous entries, I've collected $300 from CartoonStock, so I'm playing with the house's money, thank you very much. In fact, so few contestants enter that the odds may generally be considered favorable even for less-gifted caption writers. My three entries this round are shown below, above the break.

"I don't know my shoe size. Why?"
"If you want to see more of me, I'm on OnlyFans."
"I ask that you leave Nessie and me alone."
* * *
"Is it any wonder I don't come out of the woods?"
"Again, no comment."

February 14, 2026 Update:  The Winner

The Judges Deliberate

Video added February 8, 2026

05195

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #977

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #977 from the issue of February 2, 2026, a couple walking on the beach spots a fish half out of water reading a book. The woman speaks. The drawing is by P. C. Vey.

"The poor thing can't wait to evolve legs."

These captions were all washed up:

"I was looking for a good beach read."
"Because otherwise the ink would run."
"Why can't WE find the time to read?"
"But what if they ALL read Isaac Walton?"
"Isn't that cute? He's reading Kilgore Trout."
"I could never manage such small type."
"It's probably just some fish story."

February 8, 2026 Update:  The Finalists

05194