Readers of this blog are no doubt familiar with the classic depiction of Eustace Tilley which graced The New Yorker's first cover in 1925. The artist, of course, was Rea Irvin and the cover was reproduced annually until 1994. Take, for example, the 1964 anniversary issue, as currently listed on eBay:
Rea Irvin The New Yorker, February 22, 1964
Call me snobbish for saying so, but eBay sellers who deal in back issues of the magazine should be able to learn the essential cover illustrators. Even if they do not, the information is certainly easy enough to look up in any number of ways. At any rate, there is no excuse for the title of this eBay listing, which manages to misidentify the cover artist as Peter Arno:
Occasionally I offer a few helpful tips for eBay sellers who want to improve their listings. I base the suggestions in this post on a recent auction for a worn copy of The 1937 New Yorker Album with no dust jacket. First off, sellers, in your photographs, don't let the shadow of your smart phone fall on the item you wish to sell:
That goes for the back cover too.
If you're not selling your finger, it doesn't belong in your photos, I always say.
Remember what I said about smart phone shadows? It's still relevant.
If you're going to show cartoons from the book, for heaven's sake don't cut off the captions or indeed any part of the drawing. I can add the captions here as a public service but it would be preferable to see the full cartoons.
"Hey, Mr. Raboldi! Surprise!" Charles Addams
"Maybe they'd like us to say 'good night' already." (dating couple on a couch to the right) Syd Hoff
"Ready or not, they say she's never been known to miss a cue." Whitney Darrow, Jr.
In a perfect world, the listing should get the book's title correct:
The 1937 New Yorker Album eBay listing ended November 16, 2024
Despite this eBay seller's less-than-ideal presentation of the book, I saw the listing and was surprised to find I didn't have this book in my library. So I took my fifteen bucks and entered the fray.
The 1937 New Yorker Album eBay bid history One last minute bid from your neighborhood blogger is met with success.
It's hard to believe that some people still can't rotate photographs, but the eBay seller offering a New Yorker original by cartoonist Henry Martin in 2015 presented three of the five photographs sideways. That would constitute an insult to potential online buyers under ordinary circumstances, but this is an especially wordy cartoon to be asked to ponder on one's side. I have taken the liberty of turning the three images upright, a little trick I learned in blogging school.
Photo orientation seen on eBay
The original New Yorker art by gives us a glimpse into the king's diary, revealing his majesty's innermost thoughts. A low-key, introspective cartoon from 1984 remains delightful today, especially right-side-up.
"Dear Diary: Parades, concerts, dancing, banquets, gala balls, fireworks. Today is my birthday, and the whole kingdom is making quite a fuss over it." Henry Martin Framed and matted original art The New Yorker, October 8, 1984, page 116
"Dear Diary: Parades, concerts, dancing, banquets, gala balls, fireworks. Today is my birthday, and the whole kingdom is making quite a fuss over it." Henry Martin Original art The New Yorker, October 8, 1984, page 116
Henry Martin's signature and caption
Copyright notice
A screenshot of the eBay listing shows that three of the photographs were presented on their sides:
"Dear Diary: Parades, concerts, dancing, banquets, gala balls, fireworks. Today is my birthday, and the whole kingdom is making quite a fuss over it." Henry Martin Original art The New Yorker, October 8, 1984, page 116
What's wrong with this picture? The award for poorest photography of original New Yorker art ever presented on eBay goes to...
Bernard Schoenbaum Original art The New Yorker, February 9, 1987, page 42
Which do you see more clearly, the reflection or the artist's signature? Say, is that the photographer's finger?
Bernard Schoenbaum's signature
Seriously, can you make out the gag here?
Bernard Schoenbaum Original art The New Yorker, February 9, 1987, page 42
Bernard Schoenbaum Original art The New Yorker, February 9, 1987, page 42
The copyright notice is dated 1981. The drawing was held in the bank for some six years and eventually published in 1987. The eBay seller's conclusion is that this "May have [been] a study for magazine art?" Why a study?
Copyright notice
Ultimately the seller gets what the seller deserves: just $50 for matted and framed original New Yorker art. This whole process is a disservice to what is probably quite a handsome New Yorker original.
Bernard Schoenbaum eBay Listing Ended February 2, 2014
Note: Well, I hope that's as bad as the photography gets on eBay. Attempted Bloggery seeks clear, crisp photos of original New Yorker cartoon art by Bernard Schoenbaum and others.
No doubt the place to be on Wednesday, January 19, 1949 was in the auditorium of the Museum of Modern Art. There the first complete American performance of Façade took place, an "entertainment" with words by Dr. Edith Sitwell and music by William Walton. The performance was introduced by Sir Osbert Sitwell, Edith's brother. Two sketches of the Sitwells at the performance document the noteworthy evening. These sketches are currently listed on eBay with the jaw-dropping price of $2,000, a price justified only, it would seem, by the unsupportable assertion that they are from the hand of James Thurber. Thurber was a world-class cartoonist, but he was not a caricaturist and he certainly was not one to be relied on to capture a likeness. These drawings do not resemble his work in the slightest; they try too hard and they clearly fall short. They lack his effortlessly-flowing lines and his irreproachable simplicity. They bear handwriting that is clearly not Thurber's, and they are, as one might guess, unsigned. In 1949 it is doubtful that Thurber's failing vision would allow him even to attempt any sort of live sketching at an event.
Osbert Sitwell and Edith Sitwell eBay listing retrieved January 10, 2019
Osbert Sitwell and Edith Sitwell eBay Item Description
Façade: An Entertainment
Poems by Edith Sitwell
Music by William Walton
Edith Sitwell and Peter Pears, reciters
Anthony Collins conducting The English Opera Group Ensemble
British Decca recording, 1953
Orchestral Fanfare
Poem 3, Mariner Man ("What are you staring at, mariner man..."), recited by Sitwell;
Poem 6, Tango-Pasodoble ("When Don Pasquito arrived at the seaside..."), recited by Pears
Poem 7, Lullaby For Jumbo ("Jumbo asleep! Grey leaves thick-furred as his ears..."), recited by Sitwell
Poem 16, Valse ("Daisy and Lily, lazy and silly, walk by the shore..."), recited by Sitwell
Poem 21, Sir Beelzebub ("When Sir Beelzebub called for his syllabub in the hotel in Hell..."), recited by Pears
August 5, 2019 Update: Six months later and this post has come to the attention of Gabriel Boyers of Schubertiade Music & Arts, LLC, the seller who, according to eBay's terms, "assumes all responsibility for this listing." On July 22 he wrote:
It saddens me to see that it is no less than the immediate past President of the Professional Autograph Dealers Association (PADA) who is still trying to pass these amateur drawings off as the work of James Thurber. The autograph trade is rife with hucksterism and fraud. PADA should exist to establish standards so buyers will have faith that what they're purchasing is genuinely what it's stated to be. Instead apparently the standards are just for show; the deception goes to the very top of the trade.
Incidentally, copyright for the images resides with the artist and the artist's estate; it does not transfer automatically to the owner of the drawings. I would doubt these images were ever technically under anyone's copyright, but even if they were I would still have the right to display and discuss them publicly under the doctrine of fair use. For the seller to assert that he can post these images publicly on eBay and call them the work of Thurber—or, for that matter, of Picasso or of Rembrandt—without any supporting evidence but that for me to point out the spuriousness of his claim is "disparaging" and a violation of his copyright is simply ludicrous. Actually, I think that even as anonymous drawings these are indeed valuable as a historical record of the first complete American performance of Façade. I merely object to them being falsely called the work of James Thurber. It is the seller who is "disparaging" Thurber's reputation.
The burden of proof of authenticity lies with the seller. Numerous examples of Thurber's midcentury handwriting and drawing are available for comparison with these two drawings and anyone can look them up, even a professional autograph dealer. I personally would love to see what served as the basis for "our analysis of the work as by Thurber." I think Mr. Boyers should go public with his evidence and his analysis.
In the meantime, I would not recommend buying a Strad from Schubertiade Music & Arts.
July 19, 2020 Update:Schubertiade is hoping to unload this piece at auction tomorrow. They have reduced the $2000 price to an estimate of $800-$1200, with an opening bid of $400. That seems fairly reasonable for a unique document from an American concert premiere. They continue to attribute the work to Thurber against all reason, but it's becoming clear that even they don't believe it. Thus we get to learn a bit more of the history of their acquisition forty years ago and we get a lot of new caveats—"the penmanship and drawing style are plausibly Thurberesque to our eye"—while they acknowledge his severely impaired vision at the time of this drawing and state, for once, the obvious: "...we cannot make a definitive attribution." Of course you can't. There's nothing "plausibly Thurberesque" about it. But good luck with the sale.
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