A Signed Copy of William Hamilton's Anti-Social Register

It's nearly six years ago now that I spotted a signed copy of New Yorker cartoonist William Hamilton's Anti-Social Register languishing on eBay. I'm sure I thought the $175 Buy It Now price for the 1974 collection of drawings rather excessive. Nevertheless, I dutifully copied the auction to my archive and, as I so often do, forgot all about it. Until now.

In retrospect, the now-fifty-year-old book seems fairly rare in a signed state so the high asking price may have been justified if demand were sufficient. But I never followed through on the auction results, so who can say? 

William Hamilton
eBay listing accessed February 24, 2019

https://www.ebay.com/itm/372592480112?ViewItem=&item=372592480112

William Hamilton
eBay item description

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Edward Koren: Skating

Skating is an original drawing by cartoonist Edward Koren dated May 1975. It shows a somewhat indistinct group of figures ice skating. The art was sold last month, on eBay.

Edward Koren's signature

Verso

Edward Koren

eBay listing ended November 6, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/335622159270?_skw=signed+Edward+Koren&itmmeta=01JE2QRNAVG7DY47MSHQYKJJ04&hash=item4e24a3bba6:g:0TQAAOSwh~pnD9ic&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKkRcnWIIE5XqXBe81QDwWLdfpKRMPw7XnjY7tAAbPio36%2FzVCMj5n4suHnk%2F3uVCBX8O%2Bs7GI6iIiPJwLuUkncTkK367R3MDOu4yalc1u

HjwsyauqW9p2scYOBuNXusQSRAan008KlVbf%2BLHaKy7kPT1tzIjFt%2BeIoNdB3r2s%2Fvft3yokcI%2BND3ocGJV%2B6uWeIJnTfX0uqOPdrujdzz%2Fud2MJM0JlEOxLmeQfVT7%2BoUR0XKW9mg0Vps8C2L0B9Sk2crcNfYDw5i9Q%2FpNpHY7tEhqgz%2FpsXqIxtTVIEraGkZAg%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8DV4tfwZA

Edward Koren
eBay item description

04817

Stanley W. Reynolds: Woman With a Parasol

Stanley W. Reynolds illustrated some memorable magazine covers for The New Yorker and Vanity Fair between 1925 and 1927. They are highly stylized art deco designs which may be seen at the Condé Nast Store here. Beyond this brief burst of creativity, there isn't much of his work to be found online. 

Early in 2017, an original Reynolds illustration was listed on eBay. Painted in rich watercolors, it is more art nouveau than art deco and looks nothing like the published magazine covers. A woman wearing, apparently, nineteenth century finery and carrying a parasol stands behind a Dutch door. She is prepared to emerge onto a garden path.

Stanley W. Reynolds's signature

Detail

Detail

Detail

Stanley W. Reynolds
eBay listing ended January 13, 2017

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Listed-Artist-Stanley-W-Reynolds-Watercolor-New-Yorker-Vanity-Fair-Deco-/282306695231?hash=item41baca503f%3Ag%3AKz0AAOSw-0xYUrnu&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Stanley W. Reynolds
eBay item description

Note:  I'd like to hear from anyone who can identify where this art may have been published or is familiar with other work by Stanley W. Reynolds.

04816

Eldon Dedini Illustrates French

It was news to me that cartoonist Eldon Dedini illustrated a textbook of introductory French in 1970. David from Manhattan knows a surprising amount of its history. He writes:

In 2014 eBay offered a group of six letters, part of a presumably larger correspondence from the legendary Eldon Dedini to Michael Kim, a young man he was mentoring in the 1980s. Kim went on to become a storyboard artist, writer, and director of "The Ren and Stimpy Show" and "Family Guy," the letters demonstrating Dedini's generosity with his advice for an aspiring artist. One letter, from 1984, talks about illustrating books for publishers, and to make a point about reading the fine print before signing anything, Dedini included a file copy of an old contract from Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

The book, written by a friend, Yvette de Petra, in 1968 a professor at Crown College in Santa Cruz, had the provisional title First Year College French with Dedini to provide illustrations.

When it was published in 1970, it had become a 413+ page hardbound textbook, La Clef: Introduction Au Français Elementaire, replete with photographs, prints, an appendix of full-color maps, and best of all, 22 full-page b&w drawings, plus the cover, and numerous smaller drawings, all by Dedini.

The original owner of my copy was Prof. Mary M. Rowan, who made notes, creased page corners, and is credited online as a pioneer in "the study of French convent writing."

A selection of illustrations show Dedini taking different approaches to his task, all in his recognizable style, which for the purposes of a textbook he simplified, and perhaps in a playful nod to his work in Playboy, nearly all the men and women are young, attractive and happy. 

The book also includes literary excerpts from many French luminaries, though Dedini contributed to just two: Colette, with a small drawing of her fictional stand-in, Claudine, and Anatole France, with a sketch of a schoolboy running through autumn leaves. The artist may not have been comfortable with this part of the project, or de Petra decided on another approach; the balance of the excerpts use only author photos. Dedini's contributions end on page 265, with "Faisons un rêve," which shows a young woman dreaming of a New York City visit on her own and returning via Air France safe & sound to her boyfriend. If Dedini had a dream, it may have been to finish his work and take a vacation far from college textbooks.

La Clef was published more than 54 years ago. It's out of print, and other than listings for the book, there's no information on Yvette de Petra to be found on-line. Fortunately, the correspondence between Yvette and Eldon still exists, as does the original artwork, all courtesy of the vast Dedini archives at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, an important part of the Ohio State University library system in Columbus.

Note:  Merci beaucoup to David from Manhattan. This is his sixty-fifth contribution to Attempted Bloggery. Furthermore, he finally figured out how to sneak mentions of "The Ren and Stimpy Show" and "Family Guy" into my otherwise serious blog. 

04815

Lawrence Richter Quinn's Copy of The Office Party by Corey Ford and Whitney Darrow, Jr.

A copy of Corey Ford's The Office Party (1951) sold this past October by Space Cadets of Conroe, Texas, once belonged to financial writer Lawrence Richter Quinn. It was personalized for him by the book's illustrator, New Yorker cartoonist Whitney Darrow, Jr., in 1987, thirty-six years after publication. Later the book became the property of comics historian Bill Bush.

While the world of acceptable office humor in The New Yorker had changed greatly over those intervening years, one might not surmise that change from Darrow's lively drawing of a curvaceous blond secretary shown from behind. She wears a revealing party dress and sits at a manual typewriter.

Whitney Darrow, Jr.
eBay listing ended October 22, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304950140054?_skw=Whitney+Darrow+signed&itmmeta=01JDKA6GBSHFND4PTWNJ1M10AK&hash=item470071dc96:g:uR0AAOSwSrhkUcDH&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKnC%2B5C3Dm2BlAEuKQshT7j8kH5A%2FF0mD2prkTNmgE8apM1X

5kDqYdMJuCQX9bh0jhrD7MMDXsd%2BMmEnUgZtbEnEzdBwusY%2B50KEeT4yvl1skbedROV52EvBBfYaq6PaHfC%2FOWPpzvroHF%2FYHJiCDWKejXEyhZyGodbdIragHrIN7JanSgbW8d4Nx9zYtAjIuGy7uKhTj%2FWS1KGa7Rermsk0EDk%2B8

BvnjFa98sZ0lTyhw0DFXxxk%2FSWx4XGrU%2BY%2F%2B4HneUYn6xqXu23cW1gr6LDs1d7wcdMad8DMYJUfq06FxQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4CGmursZA

04814