Rob's Copy of The Art in Cartooning

The book is The Art in Cartooning:  Seventy-five years of American Magazine Cartoons, published in 1975. The original owner was named Rob and he had the good sense to get his copy at a signing with multiple cartoonists present. The four who signed and decorated his book were Gahan Wilson, Sam Gross, Marvin Tannenberg, and Bill Woodman. The cover art is, of course, by Charles Saxon.

Inside the book, the cartoonists play off each other's sketches, top to bottom. Wilson starts it off in his macabre manner with a drawing of a waiter serving his customer: "This what you asked for, sir?" Gross changes the culinary subject to frog legs, a convenient reference to his most famous cartoon, which appeared in the National Lampoon: "No, you yo-yo / He asked for frogs legs." Tannenberg supplies a missing frog leg on his self-portrait with "What's this craziness with frog's legs[?]"

What's on the menu? Woodman takes us out of the dining room and into the kitchen where a chef is in the preliminary stages of preparing dinner. With a full page (or at the very least half of one) to himself, Woodman shines.

The Art in Cartooning
eBay listing ended August 2, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/204890575268?epid=2911644&itmmeta=01J4AZMZ64DACWYWKGTV6M9R3X&hash=item2fb46e11a4:g:WtwAAOSwzFtk1BCX&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8Oz%2F1S0dmyDe7H2Y4X6i22p5vCV7MZPCQyGxvEkZG5ra%2FNVuozwauT2KyCj15RYCcZGnvvG%2BHesoDlO%2BeCG1o6lb7%2Fd9YyEpCAFKBEWvVU7MMJ%2FMfcu97t

ufa%2FsdO6hSiLkl%2BWilTk1Y812aAo4LHrmgo%2BbaDGqVtOvcBiuoCKhRgjaDlZXYAgeErEl1GOGEUE1SeZ5S2jyjWegGW4LCNAq604XGAk6g5ic%2Bir6deftQunh03Mz5%2BI5VINWjXvFa9PU8vjP6leJfp56vbEzI9ujeR%2BrJtxG7Wpwl%2F%2ByFVNLqmZPiYMo2t0WgvtCOHKL9DQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR5Tz09-iZA

The Art in Cartooning
eBay item description

A best offer of $175 was not accepted. A counteroffer of $195 nevertheless sealed the deal.

Note:  This is the tenth very special copy of this book to appear here on the blog. Scans or photos of other personalized copies from book signings of yore are welcome.

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Jack and Betty's Copy of The Art in Cartooning

Bauman Rare Books of Philadelphia offers a second copy of The Art in Cartooning (1975) for $3,200, making this book that once belonged to Jack and Betty the most expensive copy yet on the market. Jack could indeed be the same Jack Herbert whose copy of the book listed by the same rare book dealer we saw in yesterday's post. Cartoonist Henry Martin graced the book with a drawing of Betty painting Jack's portrait. Bill Woodman depicts the older couple roller skating together. Cartoons by Marvin Tannenberg and Roland Michaud both allude to golf and perhaps to the couple's differing opinions of it. Curiously, Michaud has not signed or drawn in any of the previous seven copies of this book we have seen here. Sam Gross gives the couple a cat cartoon with an unseen but talkative mouse.

On the next page, Lou Myers shows the couple to be doting grandparents and adds an unusual bit of color to the hats. George Booth provides the half-title with a complicated double-drawing, the wheels of an old-time car in profile doubling as a driver's goggles and eyes seen en face. He includes an eight-line verse. The whole thing seems to have a lot of moving parts and surely must have been worked out by him in advance.  

 

The Art in Cartooning
Bauman Rare Books listing accessed April 13, 2024

https://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/booth-george-new-yorker/art-in-cartooning/126825.aspx

Note:  Has anything like George Booth's light verse been encountered before? Do tell.

For that matter, this blog would benefit from additional images of drawn-in copies of The Art in Cartooning—why would I stop at eight?—or of other books drawn upon by any of these seven artists.

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The Art in Cartooning Signed by Ten Cartoonists

Ten cartoonists signed a single copy of The Art in Cartooning: Seventy-five Years of American Magazine Cartoons, the 1975 collection edited by Edwin Fisher, Mort Gerberg, and Ron Wolin for the Cartoonists Guild. The book was probably signed no later than 1976, but the circumstances are unclear. Was it signed at a book launch? Was it signed in an office where the cartoonists came and went?  It is not dedicated to anyone specifically and it is not signed by the editors.

In general, these cartoonists have group-signed other copies of this book and even added multiple drawings, but this is the only copy of The Art in Cartooning in which I've seen Charles Addams's signature—and I've never seen him leave a sketch in one. With the exception of Marvin Tannenberg, each of the signers was a contributor to The New Yorker. The cover art is The Closed Mind, an "experimental drawing in watercolor and crayon" by Charles Saxon. 

One page, ten signatures:

The Art in Cartooning
Argosy Book Store listing accessed October 3, 2023

https://www.argosybooks.com/pages/books/140755/edwin-fisher-mort-gerberg-ron-wolin/the-art-in-cartooning

Note:  I know exactly what you're thinking. You're thinking that this blog might be a good place to post images of other unique copies of The Art of Cartooning with hard-to-find drawings or signatures. You're thinking you could send me scans of your book and tell me whatever you know about it. You're thinking that would be such a great idea. Let me tell you something: I like your thinking.

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Sight Unseen: Raymond's Copy of Think Good Thoughts About a Pussycat by George Booth

From time to time, if only to amuse and challenge myself, I buy cartoon books sight unseen. Generally, there is something about their description I find alluring enough to be willing to take a risk. Don't try this at home unless you're willing to face possible disappointment.

In the case of a copy of George Booth's now classic Think Good Thoughts About a Pussycat (1975), bookseller John K. King offered an inscribed copy with drawings by Marvin Tannenberg, Sam Gross, Bill Woodman, and Booth. That's a great combination of cartoonists usually found in signed copies of the The Art in Cartooning (1975) from the Cartoonists' Guild. Perhaps Raymond, the book's original recipient, carried his copy of the Booth book into the signing, or perhaps it was also available for purchase at whatever venue the signing was held. The seller speculates that Raymond was cartoonist Raymond Thayer, which is interesting, but there's no clear evidence for this one way or the other. 

The price of $224.25 is admittedly pricey for a book one hasn't seen. One always worries that a suite of drawings such as this one hasn't been imaged because it just doesn't look quite as good as it sounds. But the bookseller threw in an unrelated letter he received from Booth in response, apparently, to a query or two about buying original art. The book and letter were listed on AbeBooks in February of this year with no images whatsoever:

George Booth
AbeBooks listing accessed February 13, 2021

https://www.abebooks.com/signed-first-edition/THINK-GOOD-THINGS-PUSSYCAT-Booth-George/30842201512/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=viewbook

Should I have bought the Booth book sight unseen? Should I have requested a photo or two first? Maybe, but I just went ahead and bought it. Now let's see how it all turned out:

With original drawings by (clockwise from top left) Marvin Tannenberg, Sam Gross, Bill Woodman, and George Booth, all inscribed to Raymond

ALS from George Booth to John K. King, bookseller, December 21, 1977

There you have it. Three of the cartoonists drew self-portraits, to all appearances, and Booth drew a dog, helpfully labeled DOG. Perhaps these were drawn for a fellow cartoonist. It's hard to say for certain.

The verdict? I am not unhappy with this purchase. The book seems unique enough. If I did overpay, I feel it was not by much. At any rate, I have no regrets about this.

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Steve's Copy of The Art in Cartooning

Scott Burns writes:

Per your request, here’s another signed copy of The Art in Cartooning from my personal collection. This copy is inscribed by all three editors (Mort Gerberg, Edwin Fisher, Ron Wolin) with additional inscriptions and drawings by Bill Woodman, Sheldon Oppenberg*, Jack Ziegler, Sam Gross, Marvin Tannenberg**, Dana Fradon, George Booth, and Jules Feiffer.

* Oppenberg was a cartoon art collector; I don’t think he was a cartoonist himself — although some of his sketches sometimes show up on eBay. 

**Under the name Tann, Tannenberg’s gag cartoons were published in numerous magazines including Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, Look, Ladies Home journal, Playboy and Saturday Review. He was a founding member of the Cartoonists Guild and served as its first president.

The rest I’m sure you know. Unfortunately, I'm as clueless about the signing circumstances as you — but my guess is that there was probably some kind of opening reception for the book. The “Steve” to whom the signatures are inscribed, I presume had some connection since the inscriptions are a bit more personal than in the other copies I have seen.

That's right. Marvin Tannenberg writes that he's still wearing Steve's belt while Ron Wolin hopes Steve will make him "a super pair of sandals" when and if he makes it to Albuquerque. Ron Wolin knows Steve's mother and Steve either just met or already knows Marvin Tannenberg's daughter Allyce. So Steve is in the custom leather goods trade in Albuquerque and the cartoonists, perhaps at his request, draw for him an assortment of—what else?—cows!

And here's where it gets really interesting. Bill Woodman and Mort Gerberg each draw very plausible comic cows. Jack Ziegler's cow is another story. Sam Gross and George Booth react hilariously to Ziegler's haplessly-drawn bovine. Dana Fradon chimes in as well.

Of note, Sam Gross has his cartoon character say "Ziegler draws lousy cows," adding self-deprecatingly "So does S. Gross." History has since shown his humility to be false; he was to create one of the best cow gags ever for The New Yorker and have it published in 1983:

"Son, your mother is a remarkable woman."
Sam Gross
The New Yorker, August 15, 1983, page 48

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1983-08-15/flipbook/048/

A few more observations: Jules Feiffer and Ron Wolin do not draw in the book. Marvin Tannenberg sticks with his self-portrait. Sheldon Oppenberg keeps it very simple. Ed Fisher comes very close to leaving a drawing, something we have not seen him do before on this blog.

Note:  Thanks to Scott Burns of Burns Bizarre for responding to my request and sharing his copy of this book with us. His knowledgable commentary is appreciated as well.

So now we have seen four gorgeous copies of The Art in Cartooning signed and sketched upon by multiple cartoonists. I am eager to hear from readers with information about the March 1976 book signing at which I believe all these copies were signed. I am also eager to post other uniquely signed, inscribed, and sketched-in copies of this book.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Cows

The Art in Cartooning

George Booth

Ed Fisher

Dana Fradon

Mort Gerberg

Sam Gross

Charles Saxon (Cover Artist)

Marvin Tannenberg

(Gahan Wilson)

Ron Wolin

Bill Woodman 

Jack Ziegler

Signed Books with Original Drawings

Attempted Bloggery's Udderly Ruminating Index

03351

Sight Unseen: Virginia's Copy of The Art in Cartooning

Should one pay good money for a rare book, sight unseen? Well, it depends. If the book is a signed copy of The Art in Cartooning (1975) with six original drawings by the likes of Marvin Tannenberg, Gahan Wilson, George Booth, Bill Woodman, Sam Gross, and Paul Peter Porges, and if the price is not too unreasonable, I might take a chance on it. And indeed I did...

First off, here's the listing:

The Closed Mind
Charles Saxon
The Art in Cartooning:  Seventy-five Years of American Magazine Cartoons
The Cartoonists Guild, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1975

The Art in Cartooning
AbeBooks Listing Accessed July 9, 2020

https://www.abebooks.com/ART-CARTOONING-SEVENTY-FIVE-YEARS-AMERICAN-MAGAZINE/30690993679/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=viewbook

Now let's see whether my gamble paid off. Four of the cartoonists drew animals, as Sam Gross has his frog point out, while two others drew self-portraits. Two of the animals are roasted pigs; Bill Woodman's may be echoing the drawing of Gahan Wilson, or perhaps vice versa. George Booth gives us his classic English Bull Terrier. Here's how they all look together on the endpapers:

Drawings by Marvin Tannenberg, Gahan Wilson, George Booth, Bill Woodman, and Sam Gross

Paul Peter Porges has the title page to himself:

Drawing by Paul Peter Porges inscribed "Hi, Virgin[i?]a"

Of note, in the AbeBooks sales listing, David Hallinan, Bookseller, of Columbus, MO, is a bit mystified by Sam Gross's drawing of "a frog atop some wheeled vehicle," but we know what this is, don't we? It's a reference, of course, to his most celebrated cartoon ever, the notorious frogs' legs cartoon published in 1970 in National Lampoon and reproduced on page 179 of The Art in Cartooning.

https://mikelynchcartoons.blogspot.com/2010/12/sam-gross-frog-legs-original-cartoon.html

Note:  This is now the third copy of The Art in Cartooning both signed and sketched upon by cartoonists to appear on this blog. (The other two copies of the book also had sketches by Dana Fradon, editor Mort Gerberg, and Jack Ziegler, but not by Porges.) I would still like to hear from anyone with information about the March 1976 book signing at which it's possible this copy was signed as well. I'd also love to provide a showcase here for other uniquely signed and inscribed copies of this book, one of several landmark cartoon books published in 1975.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Sight Unseen

The Art in Cartooning

George Booth

Ed Fisher (editor)

(Dana Fradon)

Mort Gerberg (editor)

Sam Gross

Charles Saxon

Marvin Tannenberg

Gahan Wilson

Bill Woodman 

(Jack Ziegler)

Signed Books with Original Drawings

Attempted Bloggery's Index with Legs

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