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.

05288

Roxie Munro: Covering the Court for WDVM-TV9, Washington, DC

New Yorker cover artist and children's book illustrator Roxie Munro spent five years working as a television courtroom artist in Washington, DC, also covering the House, Senate, and Supreme Court. This came to an end in 1981 when she sold her first cover to The New Yorker and moved to New York City. One of her courtroom pieces, from January 1980, was offered on eBay last year. It was originally broadcast on WDVM-TV9, then an NBC affiliate. This sketch illustrates the Abscam trial. 

Ms. Munro had a correspondence with the seller:

Roxie Munro
eBay listing accessed November 27, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/167960611886?_skw=Roxie+Munro+Court&itmmeta=01KB34RXGS9V44SS1T50913J52&hash=item271b3b8c2e:g:l0UAAeSwOCxoxg6y&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA8FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1fqIGVGC9CLypOke6HjNQO1dnlTuJf4NTF6hnp5VwXxC3W%2B8EGUcJNirMfhOBipzP9DYAY5IWMxrDl%2F7flsn%2BndqIMk5

XR3rOlMbGC5D2LEyc8v0tUnSHtsbr87n1vaHk72ufLfmB725Wma8QeeF7OmOZUsaFI3HHA8730W446FcgF6nsKZJne0FTEHgzIuCqcBAg8EaZ7igkVMqzrK56CgkavoNmbUyCsUfGHxy0an9aynd2dW7z84Vo1n4VjuD3YDeQ6tryvOvUa4e2B662rMTmH22bIr6d7VvndgNIpKzw%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8rY4-TYZg

Roxie Munro
eBay item description

Note:  The present work was previously offered for sale by Alexandria Auctions. 

05287

Arthur Rackham: An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog, From The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith

In 1929, George G. Harrap & Co, Ltd., published a splendid new edition of Oliver Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield with illustrations by Arthur Rackham. With this volume, Harrap introduced the practice of setting aside some ten "special copies" with original drawings produced by Rackham that did not appear in the edition. Recently, Peter Harrington brough copy no. 2 to the market. Rackham's original drawing illustrates Goldsmith's An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog from Chapter 17. Priced at over $28,000 US, it found a buyer in less than a week.

Endpapers

Arthur Rackham
AbeBooks listing as priced on May 12, 2026

Sold!

Arthur Rackham
AbeBooks listing ended by May 17, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/Vicar-Wakefield-RACKHAM-Arthur-illus-GOLDSMITH/32444214230/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook_high

Arthur Rackham
AbeBooks item description

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