Harvey Kurtzman's undated letter to one fan addressed as S. D. has a brief note on one side and an original sketch on the other. The art is a self-portrait complete with a mock-apology: "—Sorry but I never draw pictures for fans." It's roughed out in yellow marker including the lettering, then filled in with five darker markers. The other side expresses Kurtzman's regrets that he won't be going to Comic Con.
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| Harvey Kurtzman AbeBooks listing accessed August 25, 2023 |
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Today it's hard to remember a time when underground comix artist R. Crumb's work was not in demand. But in the early 1960s, a still unknown Crumb living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan was looking for a job. He asked Harvey Kurtzman of Mad magazine renown to forward a handwritten request for help to author and illustrator Shel Silverstein. In his letter, Crumb pleaded with Silverstein for his assistance in soliciting some business for him from Playboy's publisher Hugh Hefner. Kurtzman forwarded Crumb's letter after penning his own above it in which he pushes Silverstein to talk to Hefner about bringing Crumb out to Chicago. As it happens, the Playboy prospect was not to work out, but in retrospect, just looking at the exasperated bird he drew at the bottom of the letter, it's hard to imagine Crumb not finding some path to success.
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| R. Crumb AbeBooks listing accessed June 5, 2022 |
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