Rob's Copy of The Art in Cartooning

The book is The Art in Cartooning:  Seventy-five years of American Magazine Cartoons, published in 1975. The original owner was named Rob and he had the good sense to get his copy at a signing with multiple cartoonists present. The four who signed and decorated his book were Gahan Wilson, Sam Gross, Marvin Tannenberg, and Bill Woodman. The cover art is, of course, by Charles Saxon.

Inside the book, the cartoonists play off each other's sketches, top to bottom. Wilson starts it off in his macabre manner with a drawing of a waiter serving his customer: "This what you asked for, sir?" Gross changes the culinary subject to frog legs, a convenient reference to his most famous cartoon, which appeared in the National Lampoon: "No, you yo-yo / He asked for frogs legs." Tannenberg supplies a missing frog leg on his self-portrait with "What's this craziness with frog's legs[?]"

What's on the menu? Woodman takes us out of the dining room and into the kitchen where a chef is in the preliminary stages of preparing dinner. With a full page (or at the very least half of one) to himself, Woodman shines.

The Art in Cartooning
eBay listing ended August 2, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/204890575268?epid=2911644&itmmeta=01J4AZMZ64DACWYWKGTV6M9R3X&hash=item2fb46e11a4:g:WtwAAOSwzFtk1BCX&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8Oz%2F1S0dmyDe7H2Y4X6i22p5vCV7MZPCQyGxvEkZG5ra%2FNVuozwauT2KyCj15RYCcZGnvvG%2BHesoDlO%2BeCG1o6lb7%2Fd9YyEpCAFKBEWvVU7MMJ%2FMfcu97t

ufa%2FsdO6hSiLkl%2BWilTk1Y812aAo4LHrmgo%2BbaDGqVtOvcBiuoCKhRgjaDlZXYAgeErEl1GOGEUE1SeZ5S2jyjWegGW4LCNAq604XGAk6g5ic%2Bir6deftQunh03Mz5%2BI5VINWjXvFa9PU8vjP6leJfp56vbEzI9ujeR%2BrJtxG7Wpwl%2F%2ByFVNLqmZPiYMo2t0WgvtCOHKL9DQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR5Tz09-iZA

The Art in Cartooning
eBay item description

A best offer of $175 was not accepted. A counteroffer of $195 nevertheless sealed the deal.

Note:  This is the tenth very special copy of this book to appear here on the blog. Scans or photos of other personalized copies from book signings of yore are welcome.

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Stan Cohen's Copy of The Art in Cartooning

I have no idea whether the Stan Cohen who obtained a personalized copy of The Art in Cartooning: Seventy-five Years of American Magazine Cartoons (1975) was also the sociologist  who coined the term moral panic. The original drawings in the book added at a signing by cartoonists George Booth, Sam Gross, Gahan Wilson, and Bill Woodman don't necessarily shed any light on the possibility. If there's panic in any of these four drawings, it isn't particularly moral.

The dust cover illustration is The Closed Mind, an experimental drawing by Charles Saxon. The interior drawings dedicated to Cohen are the work of Booth (a flea-ridden cat sitting in a corner), Wilson (a flea-ridden "Horrible Thing" sitting in a Boothian corner), Gross (a disturbed man pointing out a "cockeroach (sic!)"), and Woodman (something buggy fleeing the bottom of a birdcage while the bird's delighted owner listens in). Or, as the listing from Rare Book Cellar, the rare book seller who offers this unique copy for sale, succinctly puts it, "Signed by multpiple [sic] cartoonists with muliple [sic] cartoons." I couldn't have written it better.

The Art in Cartooning
Rare Book Cellar listing accessed August 1, 2024

https://www.rarebookcellar.com/pages/books/307389/mort-gerberg-edwin-fisher-ron-wolin/the-art-in-cartooning-seventy-five-years-of-american-magazine-cartoons-signed

Note:  There are now nine—go ahead, count 'em—unique copies of The Art in Cartooning posted in the archives here, a claim no other blog can match. Is this then a good place to stop? Of course not. Collectors in possession of their own interesting copies of the book are urged to forward images of the interesting parts to the proprietor of this blog. With a little luck, there won't be any more cucarachas.

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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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Jack Herbert's Copy of The Art in Cartooning

Bauman Rare Books offers a special copy of The Art in Cartooning: Seventy-five Years of American Magazine Cartoons  (1975), edited by Edwin Fisher, Mort Gerberg, and Ron Wolin for the Cartoonists Guild. The book is inscribed to one Jack Herbert and has original drawings by Jack Ziegler, Gahan Wilson, Sam Gross, and Bill Woodman. It is listed at $2,500.

The dust jacket shows The Closed Mind, an experimental piece by cartoonist Charles Saxon.

The drawings by Ziegler and Wilson are quite generous, each fairly elaborate and alone on a full page. The theme seems to be bottles. Unfortunately, the bookseller has not provided scans of the Gross and Woodman drawings, so we don't know whether this theme is continued.

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/125820.aspx

Note:  There are now seven copies of The Art in Cartooning posted to this blog. Each is unique in its own way. There are no doubt other fine copies out there with original drawings, signatures, or inscriptions from noteworthy cartoonists. I am always excited to post images from such copies. Please send them along to my inbox for consideration.

If anyone should happen into Bauman Rare Books, please see if you can snap a photo or two of the missing Gross and Woodman drawings for the sake of posterity.

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The Art in Cartooning Signed by Ten Cartoonists

Ten cartoonists signed a single copy of The Art in Cartooning: Seventy-five Years of American Magazine Cartoons, the 1975 collection edited by Edwin Fisher, Mort Gerberg, and Ron Wolin for the Cartoonists Guild. The book was probably signed no later than 1976, but the circumstances are unclear. Was it signed at a book launch? Was it signed in an office where the cartoonists came and went?  It is not dedicated to anyone specifically and it is not signed by the editors.

In general, these cartoonists have group-signed other copies of this book and even added multiple drawings, but this is the only copy of The Art in Cartooning in which I've seen Charles Addams's signature—and I've never seen him leave a sketch in one. With the exception of Marvin Tannenberg, each of the signers was a contributor to The New Yorker. The cover art is The Closed Mind, an "experimental drawing in watercolor and crayon" by Charles Saxon. 

One page, ten signatures:

The Art in Cartooning
Argosy Book Store listing accessed October 3, 2023

https://www.argosybooks.com/pages/books/140755/edwin-fisher-mort-gerberg-ron-wolin/the-art-in-cartooning

Note:  I know exactly what you're thinking. You're thinking that this blog might be a good place to post images of other unique copies of The Art of Cartooning with hard-to-find drawings or signatures. You're thinking you could send me scans of your book and tell me whatever you know about it. You're thinking that would be such a great idea. Let me tell you something: I like your thinking.

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Sight Unseen: Raymond's Copy of Think Good Thoughts About a Pussycat by George Booth

From time to time, if only to amuse and challenge myself, I buy cartoon books sight unseen. Generally, there is something about their description I find alluring enough to be willing to take a risk. Don't try this at home unless you're willing to face possible disappointment.

In the case of a copy of George Booth's now classic Think Good Thoughts About a Pussycat (1975), bookseller John K. King offered an inscribed copy with drawings by Marvin Tannenberg, Sam Gross, Bill Woodman, and Booth. That's a great combination of cartoonists usually found in signed copies of the The Art in Cartooning (1975) from the Cartoonists' Guild. Perhaps Raymond, the book's original recipient, carried his copy of the Booth book into the signing, or perhaps it was also available for purchase at whatever venue the signing was held. The seller speculates that Raymond was cartoonist Raymond Thayer, which is interesting, but there's no clear evidence for this one way or the other. 

The price of $224.25 is admittedly pricey for a book one hasn't seen. One always worries that a suite of drawings such as this one hasn't been imaged because it just doesn't look quite as good as it sounds. But the bookseller threw in an unrelated letter he received from Booth in response, apparently, to a query or two about buying original art. The book and letter were listed on AbeBooks in February of this year with no images whatsoever:

George Booth
AbeBooks listing accessed February 13, 2021

https://www.abebooks.com/signed-first-edition/THINK-GOOD-THINGS-PUSSYCAT-Booth-George/30842201512/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=viewbook

Should I have bought the Booth book sight unseen? Should I have requested a photo or two first? Maybe, but I just went ahead and bought it. Now let's see how it all turned out:

With original drawings by (clockwise from top left) Marvin Tannenberg, Sam Gross, Bill Woodman, and George Booth, all inscribed to Raymond

ALS from George Booth to John K. King, bookseller, December 21, 1977

There you have it. Three of the cartoonists drew self-portraits, to all appearances, and Booth drew a dog, helpfully labeled DOG. Perhaps these were drawn for a fellow cartoonist. It's hard to say for certain.

The verdict? I am not unhappy with this purchase. The book seems unique enough. If I did overpay, I feel it was not by much. At any rate, I have no regrets about this.

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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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