J. B. Handelsman: Why Mr. Dobkin Is Not Walt Whitman

In yesterday's post on New Yorker cartoonist J. B. "Bud" Handelsman, I asked for additional pieces of original art to share here. Longtime contributor David from Manhattan came through with a fine New Yorker drawing. He writes:

The cartoon, 11" x 8", is from Feb. 2, 1987. I bought this years ago on eBay, with Condé Nast the seller for a client who owned that iconic Sam Gross frogs' legs cartoon that brought $30,000 at auction. The attraction for me was the poetry reference in the caption, though taking the photo I was reminded of the artist's care in making sure each man's clothing was rendered in a different shade, even managing a hint of brown in the prosecutor's suit and gray blue in the stubborn gentleman in the witness chair.

"Walt Whitman may well have contradicted himself, Mr. Dobkin, but chances are he wasn't under oath at the moment."
J. B. Handelsman
Original art
The New Yorker, February 2, 1987, p. 75

Detail of the witness

Detail of the judge and attorney

Here's what we see in print:

"Walt Whitman may well have contradicted himself, Mr. Dobkin, but chances are he wasn't under oath at the moment."
J. B. Handelsman
 The New Yorker, February 2, 1987, p. 75

"Walt Whitman may well have contradicted himself, Mr. Dobkin, but chances are he wasn't under oath at the moment."
J. B. Handelsman
Original art
 The New Yorker, February 2, 1987, p. 75

With a spot drawing by Tom Funk and a cartoon by J. B. Handelsman

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1987-02-02/flipbook/074/

* * * 

Spot drawing
Tom Funk

Note:  For those who don't recognize the poem "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman, the relevant lines are:

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

My thanks to David from Manhattan for keeping the discussion of J. B. Handelsman going with today's post. This is David's sixty-seventh contribution to Attempted Bloggery and they're all worthwhile.

Let me repeat my call to action since it met with such success yesterday. There is a lot of original art by Bud Handelsman in private collections and very few blogs willing to put it out there for the world to see. Remember, this is a big blog. It can contain multitudes. 

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Dana Fradon: The Price of Justice

Original New Yorker cartoon art by Dana Fradon (1922-2019) from the issue of September 13, 1982 depicts a courtroom scene in one-point perspective. The man on the left is addressing a courtroom judge and the three other principle figures on the right help direct the viewer's eye back toward him. This is made more effective by the judge leaning forward and the lawyer turning away from the witness to look at his client. The speaker has a request for his lawyer to speed up the proceedings. The suggestion that his interests may differ from those of his lawyer is one of those observations that lend a surprising verisimilitude to gag cartoons such as this one.

The figure of the speaker and the table at which he is standing were apparently cut and pasted into the image. The manner in which this cartoon was matted and framed suggest that it was not sold commercially but was purchased by the magazine and given to a client. It was sold at auction in 2016 for the hourly rate of the lawyer mentioned in the caption, which is either a coincidence or a testament to the power of suggestion.

"Your Honor, I request that the witness answer the questions a little faster. I'm paying my lawyer a hundred and sixty dollars an hour!"
Dana Fradon
The New Yorker, September 13, 1982, page 41

Dana Fradon's signature

Dana Fradon
Dirk Soulis Auctions
November 12, 2016

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/dana-fradon-illustration-for-new-yorker-1982-b354181b82

"Your Honor, I request that the witness answer the questions a little faster. I'm paying my lawyer a hundred and sixty dollars an hour!"
Dana Fradon
The New Yorker, September 13, 1982, page 41

https://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1982-09-13#folio=040

Note:  Attempted Bloggery is eager to publish more original cartoon art by the late Dana Fradon.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Original New Yorker Cartoon Art

Dana Fradon (1922-2019)

Attempted Bloggery's Cost-Effective Index

  
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Marjorie and Mastin's Copy of Insincerely Yours by Dana Fradon

Cartoonist Dana Fradon, who passed away last week in Woodstock, New York, was born in Chicago in 1922 and had his first cartoon published in the New Yorker in 1948. His signature collection, Insincerely Yours, was published in 1978. A copy of this book, personally inscribed by him with an original drawing, was sold on eBay in 2015.

His approach to this souvenir drawing is unusual: he has provided the recipients with a redraw of a cartoon which appears in the collection. He even cites the page number (35) for ready reference. The cartoon depicts a courtroom scene in which the judge throws the book at the guilty party with the words "Lock him up and throw away the key!" It was originally published in 1973 as the Watergate scandal was coming to a full boil. We have no way of knowing whether the artist chose to make the drawing on his own or whether the recipients requested it.

Dana Fradon
eBay Listing Ended May 28, 2015
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dana-Fradon-Insincerely-Yours-first-edition-Signed-and-Doodled-New-Yorker-/231576904853?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35eb0f2495

Dana Fradon
eBay Item Description
For the record, the book is not a "collection of comics." It is a collection of cartoons.

The buyer offered $35.99 and the seller responded with a counteroffer of $39.99, which was accepted.

https://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1973-09-10#folio=044

Note:  Considering how prolific a cartoonist Dana Fradon was, this blog has come across relatively little of his original art. Readers are invited to remedy the situation and honor a great cartoonist by submitting scans or photos of original Fradon work.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Dana Fradon (1922-2019)

Signed Books with Original Drawings

Attempted Bloggery's Judgmental Index

  

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Signed by Stephen Breyer: The Court and the World

Should legal precedents from around the globe be considered by the U. S. Supreme Court in its deliberations? Or should the U. S. Constitution be the Court's sole consideration? Like almost everything else having to do with the Supreme Court, the topic has become highly politicized. The Court and the World:  American Law and the New Global Realities is a new book by Stephen Briar, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. This signed copy was purchased at the New-York Historical Society gift shop. Additional copies are available while they last.

Stephen Breyer.  The Court and the World:  American Law and the New Global Realities, 2015

The Court and the World:  American Law and the New Global Realities signed by Stephen Breyer

Note:  You call that legible? The blog archives contain many more examples of signed books.

Congratulations! You have found one of the few blogs that can relate the Supreme Court to the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest.

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