Attempted Bloggery: The New Yorker Album of Drawings 1925-1975: Signed by Six

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

The New Yorker Album of Drawings 1925-1975: Signed by Six

The New Yorker Album of Drawings 1925-1975 remains one of the best introductions one can find to the history of New Yorker cartoons. In the past, four copies signed by multiple cartoonists have appeared here on the blog, and for some reason no two of them have the same set of autographs. They fall into two distinct groupings. One group is so far always signed by, alphabetically, Charles Addams, Charles E. Martin, Frank Modell, and Barney Tobey. They are sometimes joined by James Stevenson (and, in today's example, Whitney Darrow, Jr.) The second grouping generally seems to have the autographs of cartoonists Edward Frascino, Herbert Goldberg, Warren Miller, and Everett Opie. This group is sometimes joined by William Hamilton or Al Ross.

The alphabetical autograph groupings to date have been as follows, with the unique cartoonist, when there is one, highlighted in lime:

1. Charles Addams, Charles E. Martin, Frank Modell, James Stevenson, Barney Tobey ($45 in 2016)

2. Charles Addams, Charles E. Martin, Frank Modell, Barney Tobey ($52 in 2013)

3. Edward Frascino, Herbert Goldberg, William Hamilton, Warren Miller, Everett Opie ($169.69 in 2013)

4. Edward Frascino, Herbert Goldberg, Warren Miller, Everett Opie, Al Ross (best offer less than $35.99 in 2016)

As already hinted, another autographed copy of the book was sold on eBay just this week. Signed by Charles Addams, Whitney Darrow, Jr., Charles E. Martin, Frank Modell, James Stevenson, and Barney Tobey, it is the first copy seen here with fully six signatures of New Yorker cartoonists. This would seem to be the most desirable grouping of all, as it includes Addams along with a handful of New Yorker greats, but your results may vary. Ironically, it sold for the lowest price of any of the signed volumes of this book previously documented here. The Addams signature, one might think, should deserve a premium, but that has not been borne out in these eBay sales. Rather, the prices for signed copies of the book have been steadily going down over time regardless of whose signatures appear inside. One hopes this lack of interest among eBay bidders is just an aberration that does not, alas, bode ill for the future appreciation of the cartoon art form as exemplified by the artists of The New Yorker.