Shel Silverstein's Copy of James Thurber's Fables For Our Time

Writer and cartoonist Shel Silverstein (1930-1999) left his unmistakeable signature the front free endpaper of his copy of James Thurber's Fables for Our Time (1940). The book, a 1943 later printing, was sold on eBay in October for a strong $850 despite some minor condition problems, particularly to the dust jacket. The seller writes, "Silverstein considered Thurber to be one of the best draftsmen of the time (along with George Price and Saul Steinberg) and the influence on Shel's own work is undeniable." That's a curious comment. Thurber is indeed one of the great New Yorker cartoonists of his own or any time. There is an indefinable magic to his characters conveyed in their gestures and facial expressions. His use of language, of course, is peerless. Draftsmanship, though, would seem to be the least of Thurber's praiseworthy attributes. The eBay listing goes on to state, "Silverstein commented on a meeting with Thurber in a 1961 interview with Studs Terkel: 'I had the pleasure of meeting Thurber, spent an evening with him in New York, one of the greatest evenings of my life. The man was an unbelievable conversationalist, the greatest I ever heard.'" That sounds more like it.

Shel Silverstein
eBay listing ended October 18, 2021

https://www.ebay.com/itm/133863471219?hash=item1f2ae27873%3Ag%3AjVsAAOSwl0FhLP4N&nma=true&si=WEtIFz5%252FkfY9UxP8WWeB%252FCaqeVQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Shel Silverstein
eBay item description

03849

James Thurber First Editions

A group of five first editions by James Thurber was sold at auction Sunday for $250 plus buyer's premium. It seems to be a very good price, as it includes the sheet music to "The Cat and the Riddle," (1924) an Ohio State University three day musical production currently selling on eBay for $400 all on its own. Thurber wrote the lyrics to two of the songs in the program as well as whatever dialogue, now lost, held the show together. The sheet music is relatively scarce and was unavailable to Edwin T. Bowden when he compiled his Thurber biography in 1968.

That $250 hammer price also bought the winning bidder a copy of Amorocco (1925). This one Bowden indeed had a copy of, but he decided not to include it as a verifiable Thurber work:

Bowden, Edwin T. James Thurber: A Bibliography. Ohio State University Press, 1968, p. 211

Nevertheless, Amorocco remains a Thurber curiosity. Why did the auctioneer not photograph it, alone of the five books in the lot? Did we really need to see both copies of Fables for Our Time (1940) instead?

The Middle-Aged Man on the Flying Trapeze (1933) might just be Thurber's wittiest book title ever—if there weren't so many others.

James Thurber
Mike Clum, Inc., Auctions listing accessed May 1, 2021

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/175-five-collectible-james-thurber-1st-ed-books-175-c-DA742D0915?bid=100

Sale result:

03616

Margaret Thurlow's Copy of James Thurber's Fables for Our Time

Margaret Thurlow worked as a secretary and copy editor at the New Yorker. She assisted in answering James Thurber's reader correspondence. She was also able to take dictation from Thurber, which the author apparently found very helpful. In her copy of Fables for Our Time (1940), Thurber acknowledges her assistance with the inscription "For Margaret Thurlow/Who helps me to get people told." He has generously included a group of amusing drawings. There are three classic Thurber dogs—or perhaps it's more accurate to tally it as one dog drawn three times—always facing left. Between two of the dogs is a woman down on all fours who is dwarfed by them; she alone here is right-facing. A butterfly hovers above a flower on the left catching the attention of one of the dogs. On the opposite page is a rabbit, also shown in left-facing profile, and very similar in stride to the dog seen at the top.

The book was offered for sale on AbeBooks for $2,000, but it was also listed on eBay. It was sold on the latter site for a best offer price of $1,600.

James Thurber
Fables for Our Time
New York:  Harper and Brothers, 1940

James Thurber
AbeBooks Listing Retrieved October 21, 2018

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=12169552303&searchurl=bi%3D0%26ds%3D30%26bx%3Doff%26sortby%3D1%26kn%3D%2522The%2BNew%2BYorker%2522%26recentlyadded%3Dall%26sgnd%3Don&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp3-_-image4

Best Offer Accepted: $1,600

Note:  Is "get people told" a Midwestern regionalism? It is not listed online in the Dictionary of American Regional English. What do you say?

Who doesn't like books inscribed by James Thurber with intriguing inscriptions or embellished by him with clever drawings? It's all sought after here on Attempted Bloggery. Let's see what you've got.

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