Jack and Betty's Copy of The Art in Cartooning

Bauman Rare Books of Philadelphia offers a second copy of The Art in Cartooning (1975) for $3,200, making this book that once belonged to Jack and Betty the most expensive copy yet on the market. Jack could indeed be the same Jack Herbert whose copy of the book listed by the same rare book dealer we saw in yesterday's post. Cartoonist Henry Martin graced the book with a drawing of Betty painting Jack's portrait. Bill Woodman depicts the older couple roller skating together. Cartoons by Marvin Tannenberg and Roland Michaud both allude to golf and perhaps to the couple's differing opinions of it. Curiously, Michaud has not signed or drawn in any of the previous seven copies of this book we have seen here. Sam Gross gives the couple a cat cartoon with an unseen but talkative mouse.

On the next page, Lou Myers shows the couple to be doting grandparents and adds an unusual bit of color to the hats. George Booth provides the half-title with a complicated double-drawing, the wheels of an old-time car in profile doubling as a driver's goggles and eyes seen en face. He includes an eight-line verse. The whole thing seems to have a lot of moving parts and surely must have been worked out by him in advance.  

 

The Art in Cartooning
Bauman Rare Books listing accessed April 13, 2024

https://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/booth-george-new-yorker/art-in-cartooning/126825.aspx

Note:  Has anything like George Booth's light verse been encountered before? Do tell.

For that matter, this blog would benefit from additional images of drawn-in copies of The Art in Cartooning—why would I stop at eight?—or of other books drawn upon by any of these seven artists.

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Vip for Jensen Phonograph Needles

Jeff Nelson shares my admiration for the wildly creative advertising work of Virgil Partch, or Vip. Jeff writes:

A few weeks back I happened to be browsing through a microfilm reel of Downbeat magazine, looking for something completely different, when I was surprised and delighted to find a long series of Vip ads, running irregularly from 1953 to 1960, for Jensen record needles. They are outstanding! The problem is that the microfilm itself was in poor condition—I doubt that anybody had looked at it in decades, if ever. So the images are dark...


A few of the same ads also ran in Esquire in 1958, so I have added them...

As you can see, Jeff has put together the most comprehensive portfolio you will find anywhere of the Virgil Partch advertising campaign for Jensen phonograph needles. If I still had a turntable, I would go out today and buy some.

Downbeat, April 22, 1953

Downbeat, May 20, 1953

Downbeat, June 3, 1953

Downbeat, July 15, 1953

Downbeat, August 26, 1953

Downbeat, May 2, 1955

Downbeat, May 30, 1955

Downbeat, June 27, 1955

Downbeat, September 19, 1955

Downbeat, October 17, 1955

Downbeat, November 14, 1955

Downbeat, December 2, 1955

Esquire, March 1958,  page 150

Downbeat, March 7, 1956

Downbeat, April 4, 1956

Downbeat, May 2, 1956

Downbeat, May 30, 1956

Downbeat, September 19, 1956

Downbeat, November 14, 1956

Downbeat, December 12, 1956

Downbeat, January 9, 1958

Downbeat, February 5, 1958

Downbeat, March 6, 1958

Esquire, April 1958, page 158

Downbeat, April 3, 1958

Esquire, May 1958, page 150

Downbeat, May 6, 1958

Downbeat, May 23, 1958

Downbeat, June 26, 1958

Esquire, September 1958, page 144

Downbeat, March 19, 1959

Downbeat, April 30, 1959

Downbeat, May 28, 1959

Downbeat, June 25, 1959

Downbeat, July 23, 1959

Downbeat, August 20, 1959

Downbeat, January 31, 1960

Downbeat, February 18, 1960

Downbeat, March 18, 1960

Note:  My sincere thanks to Jeff Nelson for doing his homework. This is his eighth contribution to this blog and it has the highest fidelity of any to date.

Often I ask readers to contribute scans or photos of original art, but published rarities, such as these Vip ads hidden away in obscurity for the past sixty-plus years, are also highly prized here.

For the record—no pun intended—I believe the year 2007 was the last time this advertising campaign by Virgil Partch was given any real play. That was on a blog called I'm Learning to Share. Go ahead, give it a spin here. To be sure, only two Jensen ads appear in the post, but one of them is not a part of Jeff's trove.

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Snookey's Copy of Bottle Fatigue by Vip

Virgil Partch, or Vip, was quite generous in presenting readers with drawings in his signed cartoon books. Even so, Snookey must have been pretty special to merit not one but two full-page cartoons in the book Bottle Fatigue (1950), a collection of cartoons about alcohol. The drawings seem to be unusually finished and may have been executed in Partch's studio. The drawings, left to right, are labeled (Scotch) and (Gin). Or perhaps they're about shaking drinks.

Scan by Scott Burns

Note:  Scott Burns has come through once again with a great scan of a Partch rarity. This is his eighth contribution to this blog. You'll see, we'll be up to ten in no time.

Can one have too much of a good thing? I don't see how. Attempted Bloggery seeks images of original Vip cartoons or signed Virgil Partch books with souvenir drawings.

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Dotsy and Eddie's Copy of Cat-Calls by Peggy Bacon

A rare copy of Cat-Calls (1935) by Peggy Bacon (1895-1987) seems just the thing to contemplate during the flu season. The book bears a full-page original drawing of a child's sickbed complete with inscription and signature. There is even a playful cat beneath the bed among the slippers. Illustrator Tom Bloom, who has provided us with scans, reports also a tiny ink test squiggle on the front flap which is not shown here. The publication date of 1935 dates this drawing perhaps to the New Year of 1936 or later. 

Peggy Bacon
Cat-Calls (1935)

Scan by Tom Bloom

Peggy Bacon
Inscribed "Happy New Year with Cold—
(Specially for Dotsy & Eddie—Peggy Bacon—)"
 In Cat-Calls (1935)

Scan by Tom Bloom

Note:  My thanks to Tom Bloom for contributing these wonderful scans. This is Tom's eighth contribution to Attempted Bloggery. Go ahead, check my math.

Peggy Bacon was a New Yorker cartoonist and poet as well as a major book illustrator. This is the first original book drawing of hers I've seen. I hope it will not be the last. Readers with original works by Peggy Bacon in their collections are encouraged to forward images to this blog to promote greater appreciation of her achievement.

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