George Price: Signed at Your Own Risk

A signed cartoon collection by George Price is currently offered on eBay for $75. It's not cheap; my recent survey of auction prices for the artist has his finished drawings selling for as little as $70 or as much as $7,500, quite a range. Also, a signed copy of this book with a small drawing is selling for about ten times this price, which is pretty steep. So while your money may be better spent going after one of Price's less expensive published original drawings at auction, signed copies aren't all that common, and this would be a a very good copy to own.

I'd love to comment on the accompanying letter by the self-proclaimed Chief of the (fictitious) Association of George Price Aficionados, but I'm afraid I can't quite make it out. Dated July 27, 1979, it seems to be presenting a Mr. Monroe with a signed copy of  the book.  "Our records reveal you are the proud possessor of an autographed book of George Price." There's clearly an inside joke here.

George Price, Browse at Your Own Risk, New York:  Simon & Schuster, 1977

George Price's signature
in Browse at Your Own Risk, New York:  Simon & Schuster, 1977

Who wrote this letter from the "Association of George Price Aficionados?"

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Browse-at-Your-Own-Risk-Signed-by-George-Price-1st-Printing-Scarce-/260536100616?pt=Antiquarian_Collectible&hash=item3ca9296708

Note:  More posts about George Price may be seen here.

There are more signed books on this blog here.

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George Price: Drawn at Your Own Risk

It's rare for cartoonist George Price to have added an original illustration to a signed copy of one of his books. This copy of Browse at Your Own Risk (1977) is the first time I've seen him do it, in fact. The drawing of a man's head show's Price's asymmetric eye technique, which makes his characters appear confused or eccentric. The dealer's price, over $700 even with a discount, is on the high side given that at least some of the artist's published magazine drawings have sold for much less than that, as we have seen.

George Price, presentation drawing of a man's head
Inscribed "A merry Christmas/and all best wishes/for the New Year/
to James Snowfield/Geo. Price/Dec. 12 '80"
in Browse at Your Own Risk, New York:  Simon & Schuster, 1977

George Price, Browse at Your Own Risk, New York:  Simon & Schuster, 1977

http://www.historyforsale.com/html/prodetails.asp?documentid=9058&start=42&page=42

Note:  Let me explain how this is supposed to work. When you see me write something like "I've never seen an original George Price drawing in one of his books before" that's your cue to chime in with something like "Oh, I've got one too. Would you like to see it?" Or perhaps you'll say "Well, I don't have one of those, but I have something even better by another New Yorker cartoonist. Would you like to see that?" The answer is yes, by the way.

In the meantime, this blog's collected George Price posts may be seen here.

Other signed books with original drawings in them are located here.

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