Captain of our fairy band,
Helena is here at hand,
And the youth, mistook by me,
Pleading for a lover’s fee.
Shall we their fond pageant see?
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
"A Midsummer Night's Dream," III.2
This last line is a most famous quotation from William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." It generally would have been well known to the educated readers of The New Yorker. Cartoonist Robert Kraus made good use of it in 1963 with a drawing of two businessmen sitting in a bar after work. His original artwork showed up on eBay in 2015. In the magazine, the printed cartoon looks somewhat slapdash, but clearly some work went into the original, particularly with the highlighting. The artwork sold for an undisclosed Best Offer price for something less than $599.
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"What fools these mortals be—present company excepted, of course."
Robert Kraus
Original cartoon art
The New Yorker, September 28, 1963, page 45 |
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"What fools these mortals be—present company excepted, of course."
Robert Kraus
Original cartoon art
The New Yorker, September 28, 1963, page 45 |
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"What fools these mortals be—present company excepted, of course."
Robert Kraus
Original cartoon art
The New Yorker, September 28, 1963, page 45 |
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| Detail of two heads |
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| Detail of the speaker's head |
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| Detail of two figures at the bar |
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| Printer's marks |
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| Robert Kraus's signature |
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| Verso |
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| Verso |
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| Verso |
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| The caption, more or less |
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Robert Kraus
eBay Listing ended August 4, 2015
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Robert Kraus
eBay Item Description |
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"What fools these mortals be—present company excepted, of course."
Robert Kraus
Original cartoon art
The New Yorker, September 28, 1963, page 45 |
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A cartoon by Robert Kraus
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A cartoon by Dana Fradon from 1976 is set in a corporate board room. It riffs on the same familiar quotation in a somewhat related way:
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A spot by Henry Martin and a cartoon by Dana Fradon
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Note: Original New Yorker artwork by Robert Kraus is something of a rarity even on this blog, but I would happily post more should good images happen to come my way.
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| Henry Martin |
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