Annals of Captioning: Further Hunting for The New Yorker in Print

Last Sunday I here related my search for additional print copies of the December 8 New Yorker, the one which announced the finalists to Cartoon Caption Contest #969 among whom I was for the first time included. The Barnes & Noble on the Upper East Side was well stocked with the December 1 issue, the previous week's, which by then should have been returned to the distributer. To my frustration, I could find no other store nearby with copies. My quest was noted on Ink Spill and even illustrated by Michael Maslin, who very generously offered me his own copy.

This week the world and The New Yorker have moved on to the December 15 issue. But it crossed my mind to ask, could Barnes & Noble still be a full week behind everybody else? It was worth a brisk walk to find out. 

Here's what I found there yesterday on the newsstand:

Do you see it there? The bookseller was once again brimming with copies of The New Yorker and this time—yes!—it was the December 8 issue I was seeking. Somehow Barnes & Noble was, thank goodness, still a full week behind!

The New Yorker copies were buried behind The Atlantic, The Paris Review, and Vanity Fair:

In sum, there were eleven copies of The New Yorker issue holding my name's first appearance in the hundred-year-old magazine. I'm not sure I will ever have a need for so many but, just to be sure, as an affirmation of my achievement sure to convince any doubters who may come my way and as a legacy to pass on to future generations whether they want it or not, I bought them all.

Now no one can doubt I write for The New Yorker. An eight-word caption, that is.

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Annals of Captioning: Hunting for The New Yorker in Print

My ascension to New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest finalist in Contest #969 this week has left me in the unaccustomed position of not having enough print copies of the current issue on hand. I have my subscription copy, of course, but the December 8 New Yorker is the very first time my name has appeared in the magazine and it couldn't hurt to buy a few extra copies, even at $9.99 apiece.

On Saturday, I headed for the Barnes & Noble on 3rd Avenue, figuring that store would be well stocked with magazines. And it was, though nothing like a few years ago when the place was housed in larger quarters on 86th Street. Still, the bookstore was stocked with about a dozen copies of The New Yorker right in front of the magazine section, appropriately, and at eye level. The problem was, only last week's issue was available, that of December 1, which should have been replaced Monday with the current one. 

Alas, there were no other options readily available. Street newsstands these days have only a few newspapers to sell, and old awnings advertise magazines for stores which now carry vaping supplies instead. You can still buy magazines in the greatest city in the world, but it isn't necessarily easy.

Note:  My quest has been chronicled and illustrated on Michael Maslin's Ink Spill here. 

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John Colquhoun's Copy of The Art in Cartooning

Cartoonist and illustrator John Colquhoun has come through for us with photographs of his own copy of The Art in Cartooning (1975).

The Closed Mind
Charles Saxon
The Art in Cartooning:  Seventy-five Years of American Magazine Cartoons
The Cartoonists Guild, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1975

This book was personalized for him by eight top cartoonists at a New York City Barnes & Noble signing, he recollects. Six of these cartoonists we've already seen draw in at least one other copy of this book; they are George Booth, Sam Gross, Paul Peter Porges, Gahan Wilson, Bill Woodman, and Jack Ziegler.The other two cartoonists, Lou Myers and Mike Witte, we have not previously seen draw in copies of this or indeed of any cartoon book. In fact, it seems this New York signing event is new to us, one we haven't encountered with the previous four copies of this book to be noted on the blog, a signing apparently without cartoonists Dana Fradon and Marvin Tannenberg, and without editors Ed Fisher, Mort Gerberg, and Ron Wolin.

Paul Peter Porges and Sam Gross
Lou Myers and Bill Wooodman

Four cartoonists draw on the front free endpaper. Porges and Woodman play with other meanings of John's name, Gross plays a cat and mouse game, while Myers plays at sketching, one would guess, the book's recipient.

Then three cartoonists—Witte, Ziegler, and Booth—pick up the theme of corners. John does not remember who started it, but he knows it was not his own suggestion.

Mike Witte

Jack Ziegler and George Booth

Finally, Wilson embellishes the book with a footloose self-portrait, perhaps, popping a soccer ball. All this for just $14.95! Then as now, you have to know where to go.

"Oops!"
"All best to John
Gahan Wilson"

Note:  My thanks to John Colquhoun for sharing his wonderful copy of this book. 

This is the fifth copy of The Art in Cartooning we have seen signed, inscribed, and sketched in by multiple cartoonists. It is the first evidence we have of a second book signing, one held in New York.

Additional personalized copies of this book are avidly sought here for potential inclusion in future blog posts.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

The Art in Cartooning
George Booth

(Ed Fisher)

(Dana Fradon)

(Mort Gerberg)

Sam Gross

Lou Myers

Charles Saxon (Cover Artist)

(Marvin Tannenberg)

Gahan Wilson

Michael Witte

(Ron Wolin)

Bill Woodman 

Jack Ziegler

Signed Books with Original Drawings

Attempted Bloggery's Footloose and Fancy-Free Index

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The New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons: Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition

The New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons (2018) is published in a regular $100 edition (currently discounted to $50 on Amazon) and an $800 deluxe edition with three prints signed respectively by Roz Chast, Bruce Eric Kaplan, and editor Bob Mankoff (currently discounted to $560.48 on Amazon). There is also a lesser-known Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition which has made its way onto Amazon at $199.99—twice the standard edition's undiscounted price—plus $48.59 for non-Prime shipping. So what does this Exclusive Edition contain that's not a part of the standard edition? Why, according to the listing on Amazon there's a "bonus frameable print." That's it. But for all that extra money one would think that's got to be quite a print!

The New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons:  A Semi-Serious A-to-Z Archive
Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition
Amazon Listing Retrieved January 11, 2019

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0316436674/ref=tmm_hrd_collectible_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=collectible&qid=&sr=

But wait! It turns out this listing is merely one Amazon bookseller's exorbitant price. Far away from Amazon, the Barnes & Noble website prices their exclusive edition competitively:

This looks to be the exclusive print: a bookstore cartoon by Peter Steiner.

The New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons:  A Semi-Serious A-to-Z Archive
Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition
Barnes & Noble Listing Retrieved January 14, 2019

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-new-yorker-encyclopedia-of-cartoons-robert-mankoff/1127872256?ean=9780762494026#/

Note:  Readers are encouraged to send confirmatory scans or photos of this B&N exclusive edition print, or better still of the three signed prints in the more expensive deluxe edition. Buyers shouldn't have to purchase these prints sight unseen. Readers wishing to purchase the Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition are advised to avoid the Amazon seller currently offering it and to purchase it instead from Barnes & Noble. Of course, of course!

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

The New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons

Attempted Bloggery's Exclusive Index

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Another Copy of Ken Krimstein's The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt

Ken Krimstein's The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt is one example of the sort of extremely ambitious book projects some New Yorker cartoonists have undertaken in recent years. The graphic novel is subtitled A Tyranny of Truth, for those who still remember what truth is. Below is a copy signed by Mr. Krimstein with a drawing of Hannah Arendt. On the cover she is depicted wearing green throughout her life, and smoking throughout her adult life.

Ken Krimstein
The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt:  A Tyranny of Truth
New York:  Bloomsbury, 2018

Signed by Ken Krimstein with a drawing of Hannah Arendt

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Ken Krimstein

Signed Books with Original Drawings

Attempted Bloggery's Philosophical Index

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My Copy of Ken Krimstein's The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt

Last week I attended a talk and book signing at Barnes & Noble on East 86th Street. Nancy Miller, the editorial director at Bloomsbury Publishing, is the editor of both Ken Krimstein's The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt: A Tyranny of Truth (2018) and Roz Chast's Going Into Town: A Love Letter to New York (2017). Both cartoonist authors discussed these ambitious books intelligently and—no surprise here—entertainingly. I already have a signed copy of Going Into Town but I jumped at the opportunity to have Mr. Krimstein sign his new book. He added a sketch of the chain-smoking Hannah Arendt in her ubiquitous green dress.

Ken Krimstein
The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt:  A Tyranny of Truth
New York:  Bloomsbury, 2018

Signed and dedicated by Ken Krimstein with a drawing of Hannah Arendt

Nancy Miller, left, in conversation with Ken Krimstein and Roz Chast

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Ken Krimstein

Roz Chast

Signed Books with Original Drawings

Attempted Bloggery's Philosophical Index

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Cartoons from The New Yorker 2017 Calendar

Today in my local Barnes & Noble I spotted the Cartoons from The New Yorker 2017 Calendar. Pictured on the outside of the box is a modern masterpiece by cartoonist Jack Ziegler. On the inside, who knows?

Cartoons from The New Yorker 2017 Calendar

November 6, 2016 Update:  My wife bought me a copy.


Note:  Jack Ziegler is the subject of a brand new interview on Ink Spill. Catch Part 1 and Part 2.

I'm always looking for original artwork, souvenirs, doodles, and variants by Jack Ziegler and others of his ilk. If you've got something you'd like to share publicly, get in touch. Did I really just say ilk?


Attempted Bloggery's quick links:

Jack Ziegler

Easter Island

Calendars

Barnes & Noble

Attempted Bloggery's Timely Index

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Delia Ephron and Edward Koren: Do I Have to Say Hello?

Hello. Author Delia Ephron and illustrator Edward Koren showed up recently at the Barnes & Noble in Tribeca to promote their new book Do I Have To Say Hello? Young people in the audience were treated to a discussion of manners and a drawing demonstration on the subject of Thanksgiving dinner.

Delia Ephron and Edward Koren

Edward Koren and Delia Ephron

What shall we have for Thanksgiving dinner? Let's start with a turkey.

Let's add broccoli.

Carrots and potatoes have been added.

Cranberries! A gravy boat with a diving board was added for the cranberries.

Now let's bake a pie. We start with butter and eggs. We have to break the eggs.

Of course! We need a pumpkin. 

The kids decided the pie should have a mouse... 

Delia Ephron asks what else should be in the drawing.

It's a dog, wouldn't you know? 

Next Ed Koren draws a high chair.

Edward Koren Draws a High Chair

The finished product: 

 The parents have to look up at the high chair

Finally, some of the kids provided some scribbles for Mr. Koren to complete.

Image added November 28, 2015

Delia Ephron on Book Talk Radio

Note:  Yes, you have to say hello.

Read "Aunt Delia's Thanksgiving Manners Quiz" on Epicurious (via Ink Spill)

If you want  you can count all the blog posts here about Edward Koren's art.

See other signed books with original drawings.

The blog archives are replete with Thanksgiving posts too.  Happy Thanksgiving!

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Noted in Barnes & Noble

Last weekend I visited one of my favorite Upper East Side haunts, the Barnes & Noble bookstore on 86th Street. Here are a few observations.

Books have a strong aesthetic appeal. They should have a substantial feel in the hand. The printed page should be pleasing to behold. On the shelf, they should look inviting. It is the appearance on the shelf of The Collected Plays of Edward Albee that causes me some consternation. The three-volume set is mismatched, with the second volume being from a different edition. They don't quite look right together; rather they look almost right. In content, the second volume is very likely identical in both the Overlook and the Overlook Duckworth editions. If I were to invest in this set, would I buy it here knowing I'd spend the rest of my life seeing its divergent spines on my shelf? If I needed it quickly for a course, sure I would, but as a thoughtful addition to my library I'd probably hold out a bit for the matching set.

Three-volume set of The Collected Plays of Edward Albee

I understand that booksellers need to protect their stock from theft, but the adhesive security tag in a copy of Liana Finck's A Bintel Brief (2014) defaces the book. It doesn't look as if it would peel off the page harmlessly. It covers a part of the image on a page of a graphic novel. It is carefully placed to be sure, but who wants this at all in a book? Words certainly and, yes, even pictures shouldn't be deliberately obscured. Otherwise, why not buy your copy of the book online and get to see 100% of every page?

Anti-theft security tag in a copy of A Bintel Brief (2014) by Liana Finck

This day-to-day boxed calendar for 2015 offers the prospect of a New Yorker cartoon for every day of the coming year. Just one cartoon? Well, it's a start.

Cartoons from the New Yorker 2015 day-to-day boxed calendar
Cartoon by Paul Karasik

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