Mrs. Kennedy's Copy of The Penguin Ronald Searle

Oh, that Mrs. Kennedy. Between the Covers Rare Books is understandably circumspect about asserting that this copy of The Penguin Ronald Searle belonged to the First Lady of the United States. I've decided to go out on the limb that the bookseller won't. The date of the inscription is fewer than four months into John F. Kennedy's presidency. Much of the country, and indeed the world, was enchanted with Jackie Kennedy. Was Ronald Searle under her spell as well?

The book's inscription is an unusual one for him. The story behind how it was obtained is lost, apparently. The cartoon collection seems to have been signed without a face-to-face meeting. The British edition of the paperback was sent; there was no hardback edition. Searle adds a bit of pomp with "Signed specially For Mrs. Kennedy." He is giving her his best handwriting here, with For atypically capitalized and an extra bit of flourish on the word from. Searle's American agent, John Locke, might well have been an intermediary, but who requested the book in the first place? Was it requested?

Ronald Searle
AbeBooks listing accessed April 21, 2023

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/Penguin-SEARLE-Ronald-Books/31479438567/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=readmore

Ronald Searle
AbeBooks item description

Note:  Of course, there are many other Mrs. Kennedys but, in May of 1961, not really. There might be some clues in John Locke's papers or in the Kennedy Library, but it's unlikely that many historians would be interested. Still, I would ask that if anyone does know something more about the history of this particular copy of The Penguin Ronald Searle, please leave a comment or send an email. Was it, for example, part of a much larger lot in the 1996 Sotheby's sale of the estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis?

Cartoon books found in the libraries of luminaries is of interest to this blogger. Tell me what you know. Name names.

 

 

04298

Cape Cod 2022: The JFK Museum

The John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum is not to be confused with JFK's Presidential Library, which is in Boston. The museum's exhibits provide some perspective on President Kennedy's legacy while presenting a great many photos of remarkably good-looking people.

Our drive to the Kennedy compound was interrupted by some unwelcoming signs. I guess I'll have to wait for an invitation.

04081

Garbo Reads

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Jackie Kennedy Onassis. Ambassador Pamela Harriman. The list of A-listers in the social circle of New Yorker cartoonist and Addams Family creator Charles Addams has been well-documented on this blog alone, and much more scrupulously in Linda H. Davis's biography of the artist. Yet there's something altogether thrilling about finding new evidence that even the reclusive actress Greta Garbo knew Addams. She was indeed the proud owner of a presentation copy of his 1960 collection Black Maria. The book is inscribed "For G G with much love/ New York 1960" and is available from the highly-reputable Argosy Books in New York for $400. The shop reports having purchased it from the Garbo estate. Alas, the listing includes no photos.

Charles Addams' Black Maria (1960)
Argosy Book Store
AbeBooks Listing as of June 24, 2017

https://www.abebooks.com/Black-Maria-ADDAMS-Charles-GARBO-Greta/22457937223/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=viewbook

James Cummins, another of New York's great bookseller, also has an inscribed copy of Black Maria listed on AbeBooks, and he does indeed provide photos. This book is inscribed to author Nathaniel Benchley and his wife Marg. It is also dated New York 1960 and it is available for $750.

Charles Addams' Black Maria (1960)
James Cummins Bookseller
AbeBooks Listing as of June 29, 2017

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=3623903672&searchurl=ds%3D5%26sortby%3D1%26tn%3Dblack%2Bmaria%26an%3Daddams%2Bcharles%26sgnd%3Don

Note:  Support your local blog! Attempted Bloggery is by no means above celebrity worship. If you own or have access to a book presented by A-list cartoonist Charles Addams to an A-list celebrity, you don't have to be shy about it. Send a scan or sharp photo of the book's cover and inscription and let the world admire it.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Charles Addams

Black Maria

Signed Books

Attempted Bloggery's D-List Index

02229

A Charles Addams House for Jackie Kennedy

Property from Kennedy Family Homes—yes, those Kennedys—were sold at Sotheby's New York in 2005. Included in that sale was a watercolor by Charles Addams inscribed "To Jackie/like Newport." The painting depicts an Addams architectural fantasy supposedly similar to the magnificent homes of Newport, Rhode Island. If the family of the late Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was selling off original Addams artwork like this, one can only wonder what treasures, if any, they chose to hang on to.

Inscribed "To Jackie/like Newport/Chas Addams"

Inscribed "To Jackie/like Newport/Chas Addams"

Note:  I saw Jackie Onassis only once at a concert in Carnegie Hall probably very early in the 'eighties, let's say '81. I remember seeing her up close during the intermission and her appearance was absolutely radiant. Rostropovich led the National Symphony Orchestra in an all-Tchaikovsky program, a concert that was easily the most thrilling I've ever attended. It was "the concert of the season" according to the woman seated on my right who sounded like she knew enough to judge such things. My father pointed out how much better than ours the seating was for Mrs. Onassis and her companion—was it fifth row, center?—but really she was only a few rows in front of us. Her presence in the Hall that night meant even more to my mother. Women of my mother's generation had admired and sought to emulate Jackie Kennedy like nobody else on earth. My mother had a great time that night, but I know it wasn't just the music.

Charles Addams I never ran into anywhere.


Attempted Bloggery's quick links:

Charles Addams

Attempted Bloggery's Fanciful Index

02058