Attempted Bloggery: Ten Years of Bloggery: Eustace Tilley, Esq.

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Ten Years of Bloggery: Eustace Tilley, Esq.

Ordinarily, when the anniversary of my blog rolls around, I post an updated version of the index—yes, this blog has an index—and bask for a day in the sunshine of my old keyword links. I'll probably do that in a few days from now, if only for the sake of tradition. This year, though, in honor of the tenth anniversary of what I still choose to call Attempted Bloggery, I will celebrate in a different way: by doing just what I always do.

This blog is first and foremost an archive, and as such it derives much of whatever character it may have from what I choose to include or exclude. The material here is basically visual, with posts about animation, illustration, caricature, and especially cartoons, ushered forth into the world at the deceptively simple rate of once per day. Most of the cartoons shown here are of the single panel variety, and many of these are either from The New Yorker or from people whose careers include The New Yorker. The magazine played a formative role in my appreciation of the art of cartooning, and very likely of everything else.

The New Yorker's mascot, of course, is Eustace Tilley, the Regency fop dreamed up by Rea Irvin and caught in the act of contemplating a butterfly through his monocle. Tilley graced the cover of the very first issue of the magazine and of many an anniversary issue thereafter. The Sebastian miniature of Eustace Tilley, Esq.,—why the Esq.?—is the kind of rarity that may only come to market once, maybe twice, in a decade. I'm so glad I was there when it did. It delights me to be able to share the eBay listing with you.