Lucretia J. Weed's Copy of Stop Trying to Cheer Me Up! by Frank Modell

Publisher Lucretia J. Weed's copy of Stop Trying to Cheer Me Up! was inscribed to her by cartoonist Frank Modell in 1978, the year of publication. For a collection of Modell cartoons, the title is perfect.

The back cover features a unicorn on a unicycle. What else? The play on words might not be immediately apparent.

Modell inscribed the front free endpaper, but it takes two efforts for him to spell Lucretia correctly.

Half title

Title page

All but four of the one-hundred sixty drawings were first published in The New Yorker. The work spans thirty years in the magazine, 1948-1978.

The book is dedicated to three people. The former Daisy Simon and Irving Modell were the cartoonist's parents. James Geraghty, of course, was the magazine's art editor from 1939 to 1973.

"And when did it first occur to you that perhaps life is not a cabaret?"

Frank Modell
eBay listing ended July 12, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/405533414673?_skw=Stop+Trying+to+Cheer+Me+Up%21+Signed+Frank+Modell%2F1st+Ed%2FHCDJ+1978+Humor+Cartoons&epid=4598692&itmmeta=01K3YVYB47HC3XDE2BQEYY1J9M&hash=item5e6bacd511:g:Y4UAAOSwILJnqQEi&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAABEFkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1dAsTDW17yImIO0vsR7QhtTIVkQ0w1Tvf2WfV3kuRMgsjxAEn7CiQrbWtUldBpke2SZ5kVNFp7k9liJZdYj83Pyr4Txi2%2FPtudzw28F2

H%2BH7yCWtpRmcSHjxQ7dvwgIt4P779K0xxTAqh8M8%2BwRyB8VACcWh32t6NdSmRNdLV%2FfY037sea0fomLzsN2C%2B2ttUWm0LbAhI1%2FOzq2RTvexVyjtxmRzUz0A3tcWXPbotwY338mHsLuJ1P0pCbN7Sk3Mb%2BcGhVmDIVbvL3%2BxoIZZyp4otVXD5F%2BOGFizNcBbq01WXAzBwJpDuDSqpt6Byb4K9LAmyTuw18QAR%2FukV5%2FE2S%2B%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR5iy-dufZg&pfm=1

Frank Modell
eBay item description

Sold for a Best Offer of $40.

And for anyone who doesn't get the one cartoon this eBay seller chose to photograph, this might very well help:

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More Cheer from Frank Modell

Today we have even more cheer from New Yorker cartoonist Frank Modell. Another copy of his 1978 collection Stop Trying to Cheer Me Up!—this one with an original drawing of a tennis player—was sold on eBay yesterday with the Make Offer feature for $19.99.

Frank Modell, Stop Trying to Cheer Me Up!, 1978

Frank Modell, Joyful tennis player, inscribed "To Patricia/July '79/Happy Birthday/and cheers from/Frank Modell" in Stop Trying to Cheer Me Up! New York:  Dodd, Mead & Company, 1978

eBay Item Ended December 15, 2015

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stop-Trying-to-Cheer-Me-Up-by-Frank-Modell-1978-HC-DJ-Signed-with-art-work-/262009844832?algo=SIC.MBE&asc=34494&ao=1&rkt=2&rk=2&meid=2de5bb99f57b40dab5e94c97246d1d74&sd=201429780006&_trkparms=aid%3D222007&pid=100011&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&autorefresh=true&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

eBay Item Description

Frank Modell, Joyful tennis player, inscribed "To Patricia/July '79/Happy Birthday/and cheers from/Frank Modell" in
Stop Trying to Cheer Me Up! New York:   Dodd, Mead & Company, 1978

Note:  This blog has a lot more to say about signed books with original drawings and about cartoonist Frank Modell.

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Cheer from Frank Modell

Here's some cheer from cartoonist Frank Modell. A signed copy of his 1978 collection Stop Trying to Cheer Me Up! sold on eBay with the Buy It Now feature for $4.99.

Frank Modell, Stop Trying to Cheer Me Up!, 1978

Frank Modell's signature

eBay Listing Ended September 17, 2015

http://www.ebay.com/itm/STOP-TRYING-TO-CHEER-ME-UP-by-Frank-Modell-Signed-1st-HBDJ-New-Yorker-Magazine-/201429780006?hash=item2ee6268626%3Ag%3AZEAAAOSw9r1V7vp0&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

eBay Item Description

Note:  Good news! The blog archives have more signed books and more about cartoonist Frank Modell.

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