Currently listed on eBay is an original children's book illustration by Robert Day from Dorothy Rickard's Little Willie (Doubleday, 1953). Little Willie is quite the bird-watcher, pursuing his quarry with binoculars and, for good measure, slingshot. But the vulture police are on to Willie's game. The original art is inscribed to Sabra Kimball, illustrator of Birds in Their Homes (1947) and later to be the coauthor of the Doubleday First Guide to Birds (1963). It seems likely that it was Kimball who realized Day's talents would be better suited than her own to this book and that she approached him about taking on the project.
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| Willie tried to make amends With our little feathered friends. For, in just so many words, Willie's strictly for the birds. Robert Day Original matted book illustration Inscribed "To Sabra Kimball With gratitude for asking me to 'do' Little Willie Robt Day" Little Willie by Dorothy Rickard (New York: Doubleday and Co. ,1953) page 17 |
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| Detail of Little Willie with binoculars and slingshot |
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| Detail of lower half of matted image of the vultures policing Little Willie |
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| Robert Day's inscription and signature |
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| Detail of the vultures keeping tabs on Willie |
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| Willie tried to make amends With our little feathered friends. For, in just so many words, Willie's strictly for the birds. Robert Day Original book illustration Inscribed "To Sabra Kimball With gratitude for asking me to 'do' Little Willie Robt Day" Little Willie by Dorothy Rickard (New York: Doubleday and Co. ,1953) page 17 |
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| Under the pastedown we can see a fragment of an original verse: "… …Willie" When Wil[lie…] "The birds' plan was a dilly—" |
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| Little Willie by Dorothy Rickard (New York: Doubleday and Co. ,1953) Illustrated by Robert Day |
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| Birds Nesting at Home Sabra M. Kimball 1950 Print |
July 5, 2019 Update: Listing ended.
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