Robert Benchley's Copy of The Making of a Magazine: A Tour Through the Vast Organization of The New Yorker by Corey Ford

It was the humorist Corey Ford who gave the name Eustace Tilley to The New Yorker's dandy peering at a butterfly through a monocle. Rea Irvin drew him on the cover of the first issue, of course, but it was the illustrator Johan Bull who depeicted him in Ford's satirical history The Making of a Magazine: A Tour Through the Vast Organization of The New Yorker (1926).

Robert Benchley's copy was inscribed to him by Ford. It was offered on eBay in August for $700. The price was slowly lowered until the book sold for $275 in late November.

Corey Ford
eBay listing ended August 28, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/116744600621?itmmeta=01K4TTMQGXRKAKXDWCYJ1MQME3&hash=item1b2e853c2d&pfm=1

Corey Ford
eBay item description

Sold!

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Rea Irvin at "Drawn From The New Yorker: A Centennial Celebration"

Would your typical magazine reader back in 1925 have had an inkling that the two early New Yorker covers shown here were the work of the same illustrator? 

Today they're hanging side by side in "Drawn From The New Yorker: A Centennial Celebration," the exhibition at the Society of Illustrators curated by cartoonist Liza Donnelly. The artist capable of adopting such different styles is, of course, Rea Irvin.

The framed magazine, right, is a copy of the actual first issue of The New Yorker. Irvin's dandy, who would later be christened Eustace Tilley by humorist Corey Ford, was a throwback even in 1925. Irvin's source was an image of the Count d'Orsay from 1834. Somehow this anachronistic character who condescended to regard a butterfly through his monocle was to become the iconic symbol of the most remarkable of magazines. Editor Harold Ross's choice of this quirky cover design somehow reflects his singular vision for the magazine. Tilley is impossibly refined, a stodgy relic from a time when the Jazz Age couldn't even be imagined. This cover is, without question, an outlier on the newsstands in February of 1925, a cryptic teaser, perhaps, as to what may lie within. And it is a classic. 

The New Yorker's twelfth issue, dated May 9, went to press with Irvin's fifth cover adorning the magazine. The original art appears in the show. In contrast to the graceful Tilley profile, it is very cartoony. Instead of the upper crust, we see the working class. And here Irvin has doubled down on the butterflies. New York's street sweepers were known as White Wings because of their regulation white uniforms. Clearly, Irvin is indulging in a visual pun.

Note:  The blog's archives have a good deal more to say about The New Yorker's first issue, the twelfth issue, and Rea Irvin's magazine work in celebration of the New Year. Or see what other publications awaited magazine readers at the newsstand in February of 1925 here.

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Lawrence Richter Quinn's Copy of The Office Party by Corey Ford and Whitney Darrow, Jr.

A copy of Corey Ford's The Office Party (1951) sold this past October by Space Cadets of Conroe, Texas, once belonged to financial writer Lawrence Richter Quinn. It was personalized for him by the book's illustrator, New Yorker cartoonist Whitney Darrow, Jr., in 1987, thirty-six years after publication. Later the book became the property of comics historian Bill Bush.

While the world of acceptable office humor in The New Yorker had changed greatly over those intervening years, one might not surmise that change from Darrow's lively drawing of a curvaceous blond secretary shown from behind. She wears a revealing party dress and sits at a manual typewriter.

Whitney Darrow, Jr.
eBay listing ended October 22, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304950140054?_skw=Whitney+Darrow+signed&itmmeta=01JDKA6GBSHFND4PTWNJ1M10AK&hash=item470071dc96:g:uR0AAOSwSrhkUcDH&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKnC%2B5C3Dm2BlAEuKQshT7j8kH5A%2FF0mD2prkTNmgE8apM1X

5kDqYdMJuCQX9bh0jhrD7MMDXsd%2BMmEnUgZtbEnEzdBwusY%2B50KEeT4yvl1skbedROV52EvBBfYaq6PaHfC%2FOWPpzvroHF%2FYHJiCDWKejXEyhZyGodbdIragHrIN7JanSgbW8d4Nx9zYtAjIuGy7uKhTj%2FWS1KGa7Rermsk0EDk%2B8

BvnjFa98sZ0lTyhw0DFXxxk%2FSWx4XGrU%2BY%2F%2B4HneUYn6xqXu23cW1gr6LDs1d7wcdMad8DMYJUfq06FxQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4CGmursZA

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Rebecca West: In Support of Corey Ford

A 1930 letter to publisher Henry Hart from British author and literary critic Rebecca West has turned up at Dennis Holzman Antiques in Cohoes, New York. West grants the publisher permission to quote her words in his promotion of the work of humorist Corey Ford. In addition to his many published books and articles, Ford is remembered for naming The New Yorker's monocled dandy Eustace Tilley during the magazine's first year.

Rebecca West
Dennis Holzman Antiques listing accessed July 8, 2023

https://holzmanantiques.com/product/1930-british-writer-rebecca-west-writes-to-publisher-henry-hart/

Rebecca West
Dennis Holzman Antiques item description

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Sight Unseen: An Otto Soglow Erotic Drawing

When I gamble, I don't need to go to a casino; I go to an online bookseller and buy something I can't personally examine. The wager is that a bookseller who won't go to the trouble of providing a photo will nevertheless accurately describe a book. My bets in book buying have overall been fairly successful so far, with one or two odd caveats. Win or lose, I report on the results of my blind purchases right here on the blog. Today I report on my most expensive experiment to date, a sight unseen copy of Fortieth Anniversary of the Dutch Treat Club (New York, 1945). As noted in the Strand Book Store listing, the publication is limited to 1000 copies and this volume is inscribed by Otto Soglow with an erotic drawing. The price is $125. Okay, I decided to go for it.

Abe Books Listing
August 7, 2016

The book has voyeuristic cover art by John Falter, a regular Saturday Evening Post cover artist.

Fortieth Anniversary of the Dutch Treat Club

John Falter

New York, 1945, cover

The endpapers are by Dean Cornwell, another outstanding contributor.

Endpaper
Dean Cornwell

The Soglow drawing appears in the front of the book on a blank page opposite a printed erotic drawing of a woman wearing only panties, a skirt, and heels, immodestly bending over. Soglow has drawn his Little King staring very specifically at her crotch and experiencing a visible bulge in his royal robe. Humorist Corey Ford has also signed the page and directed a comment at the same area of the woman's anatomy. What a coincidence!

Inscribed "With love to Harry [Staton?]/O. Soglow" with a drawing of the Little King aroused
Inscribed "The usual place/Corey Ford—"

The drawing is inscribed to one Harry. It seems likely but by no means certain that this is Harry Staton, who managed the Herald Tribune Syndicate and served as Treasurer of the Dutch Treat Club.

Among the listed officers of the Dutch Treat Club is Treasurer Harry Staton (c. 1880- 1959), possibly the original owner of this volume. Harry Staton was the manager of the Herald Tribune Syndicate from 1924-1947. Note the classy medicine cabinet.

Many of the artists in the Dutch Treat Club contributed a drawing with the theme of the number forty. Here is Otto Soglow's anatomical capriccio to end the volume:

So here's my take on this purchase: I got my money's worth, but to what end? This book is an absolutely unique item in a number of ways. It is perhaps Soglow's only drawing of the Little King in a sexually-aroused state—heaven forfend if there are more—and it is an unexpected bonus to see it paired, if crudely, with Corey Ford's signature. The likely provenance of Harry Staton makes it even more interesting. I have no doubt it's worth $125.

On the down side, it is a dated relic of an old boys' club of cartoonists and humorists. Soglow and Ford are looking for coarse laughs in the objectification of women. I love the Little King, but this isn't the Little King drawing I would choose for myself. In fact, I'm pretty sure I would have passed on the book if I'd actually seen it. But then, what was I expecting?

Note:  It's not so hard for a determined collector to find an absolutely unique drawing. In fact, it's quite easy, because cartoonists and other creative people conjure up absolutely unique images every day. Readers who have accumulated unique artifacts of the Dutch Treat Club are encouraged to share them right here on Attempted Bloggery.

It seems almost every day I ask for scans or photographs of original cartoon art by Otto Soglow. I usually ask for examples of extremely rare and obscure published work. Today I offered a little of each myself. See, it isn't so hard. Well, I suppose that depends on what I mean by it.


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