Newton Brand, Jr.,'s Copy of Pussycats Need Love, Too by George Booth

Let's assume, if you will, that the man to whom New Yorker cartoonist George Booth enthusiastically inscribed a copy of his 1980 collection Pussycats Need Love, Too with "For Newton!" was none other than Newton G. Brand, Jr., a collector of such personalized books. Brand was a Texas banker who obtained signed copies of books—by mail at least some of the time. This book was signed in June of 1987, some seven years after it was published, and is an edition created for the National Lyric Opera Company. It has an original Booth drawing of a dog wagging its docked tail.

George Booth
eBay listing accessed September 21, 2025, six days before the auction ended

https://www.ebay.com/itm/376564257976?

George Booth
eBay item description

05076

A Night at the Opera: Peter Arno?

Quick, what's missing from this cartoon listed on eBay?

Well, first off, there's no signature. Who made the drawing? We really can't say.

And there's no caption. We can only guess what the wife is saying to her husband as he sleeps through the Wagner opera.

It appears, though, that we do have a documented date of publication: March 16, 1959. On the verso, that date is notated in European fashion, a possible hint as to where this drawing may have seen print:

The eBay seller proclaims this drawing as the work of Peter Arno. This attribution seems to hang on the evidence of his name being written in an anonymous hand on the back of the drawing. In all likelihood, Arno would have signed his work in the image with his distinctive signature.

On eBay, the item was first listed at $3,495. Now it is $2,795 or a best offer. 

Peter Arno
eBay listing accessed June 23, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/296517175227?itmmeta=01J13YWB1KXTB8NJ4PSJC95D4X&hash=item4509cd07bb:g:SKIAAOSwEW1mdKdG&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4OgYqsUgn81qH7bANPnrclvb%2BaAPAkEPkjofF2UpyzAjomg7Dkw%2FLTNl9OjtzdzsP2pjP%2FYdzh0LWBvHj6nX0Qrd1O4CvYf

r1pCMsziDXzGISgIvlNoS8uoPvV7X8UmV3nCr6zc9GUlwghStQpwZ808B7XOf7yGuQWCfRRKqa9ZEfPszJsgy7F2F7JS7yyA0U1AEa26Dd8eMa874vbigcaKKWO4zk0kzR4IhPirGJAeMfi%2FpV5SC6sNO9cd1fZ%2Btg2Bp1Jugii44nqC8LiclhQbu63AR181sCYeKO2SuwErU%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_Kw8f6IZA

Peter Arno
eBay item description

Price as of June 24, 2024

Price as of June 23, 2024

A year into this listing, not too surprisingly, 

the seller is prepared to go lower:

Perhaps it would help to look at an actual Arno cartoon in a similar setting, a vocal recital. Here's a 1947 Arno drawing from The New Yorker:

"You have so got it turned off!"
Peter Arno
The New Yorker, November 29, 1947, p 44

https://www.ebay.com/itm/166975516861?mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m164382.l178272&ch=osgood&euid=33552726372c4ad3a89157a7fc53cc

cb&bu=43186000575&ut=RU&osub=-1%7E1&crd=20241004013619&segname=11021&recoId=166975516861&recoPos=1

To emphasize character, Arno draws his figures more or less facing us—not seen from behind. The balcony, the dress, and the curtains are rich in a variety of textures, something we do not see in corresponding areas of the eBay drawing.

With a cartoon by Peter Arno and a spot drawing of Al Capp

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1947-11-29/flipbook/044/

Note:  First off, I can use some help identifying the New Yorker spot artist (WAL?) who rendered Al Capp. I feel I should know this. 

Al Capp
Artist Unidentified [WAL?]
The New Yorker, November 29, 1947, p 45

There's also a lot to be learned about the eBay cartoon. Who drew it? What is the caption? Where was it published? Opinions welcome, although facts would be even better. 

04999

Maurice Sendak: Madama Butterfly Poster

Illustrator Maurice Sendak's poster for the Houston Grand Opera's 1997-1998 season, their forty-third, features an image from Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Cio-Cio-San is seen from behind near the end of the third act. Her gesture indicates agitation as Dolore, her love child by U.S. Naval Lieutenant Pinkerton, waves the stars and stripes she has just given him as a final farewell.

Detail of upper half

Detail of lower half

Maurice Sendak's signature

A signed example is available from Blank Verso Books of Napa, California. It is priced at $300. It's possible the HGO production may have been called Madame Butterfly.

Maurice Sendak
AbeBooks listing accessed October 16, 2024

https://www.abebooks.com/signed-first-edition/MAURICE-SENDAK-SIGNED-POSTER-MADAME-BUTTERFLY/32013284023/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook

Maurice Sendak
AbeBooks item description details

04771

Maurice Sendak: Hansel and Gretel Poster

Engelbert Humperdinck's opera "Hansel and Gretel" was first performed in 1893 and has become a perennial favorite of the Christmas season. The Houston Grand Opera put on an English-language production in the fall of 1997. The stage sets were designed by illustrator Maurice Sendak, who previously had worked on the HGO's production of "The Magic Flute" (1981). A poster for the production, signed by the artist, is currently available on AbeBooks.

Maurice Sendak
AbeBooks listing accessed September 24, 2022

https://www.abebooks.com/art-prints/Poster-MAURICE-SENDAK-SIGNED-HANSEL-GRETEL/31309894686/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=viewbook

Note:  For more information on Maurice Sendak at the opera, read here.

04093

Maurice Sendak: Costume Design Rough for "The Love of Three Oranges"

Maurice Sendak created costume and stage designs for the Glyndebourne Festival Opera production of Sergei Prokofiev's "The Love of Three Oranges." There was both a television production and a stage production, not to mention a book. The Booksniffer of Lewes, East Sussex, offers a rough of one of the illustrator's costume designs. How did the bookseller get his hands on this? "Maurice presented it to me when I asked him to sign some of my first editions." Who knew how simple it is? The price today is 2,200 British pounds.

Maurice Sendak
AbeBooks listing accessed February 12, 2021

https://www.abebooks.com/Love-Three-Oranges-Maurice-Sendak-ORIGINAL/30838518670/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=viewbook

There were dueling translations from Glyndebourne. The production was called "The Love of Three Oranges." When the book was published, the more traditional for was used.

https://www.hakes.com/Auction/ItemDetail/93100/SENDAK-MASTERPIECE-ART-FOR-1982-TV-PRODUCTION-OF-PROKOFIEVS-OPERA-THE-LOVE-FOR-THREE-ORANGES

 

https://www.hakes.com/Auction/ItemDetail/93100/SENDAK-MASTERPIECE-ART-FOR-1982-TV-PRODUCTION-OF-PROKOFIEVS-OPERA-THE-LOVE-FOR-THREE-ORANGES

Note:  I would love to post other original Maurice Sendak art, including any from Glyndebourne and any spontaneously gifted to those asking him to sign first editions. No story is too implausible. After all, how many Americans can resist a British accent?

03535

William's Copy of The Love for Three Oranges by Frank Corsaro and Maurice Sendak

In 2012 a rare copy of The Love for Three Oranges: The Glyndebourne Version by Frank Corsaro with stage and costume designs by Maurice Sendak was offered for sale on eBay. It was personalized to one William by Mr. Sendak, who drew a lively dancing pig.

Maurice Sendak
The Love for Three Oranges
eBay Item Listing Retrieved circa August 2012

Maurice Sendak
The Love for Three Oranges
eBay Item Description

http://www.ebay.com/itm/11-x-7-ORIGINAL-INK-MAURICE-SENDAK-DRAWING-author-Wild-Things-/251095268395?_trksid=p2045573.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D27%26meid%3D1653898849794894554%26pid%3D100033%26prg%3D1011%26rk%3D2%26#ht_8517wt_1180

The Love for Three Oranges

Prokofiev / Frank Corsaro / Maurice Sendak

Glyndebourne—Opera DVD

Note:  The book is still listed for sale on the Comic Art Fans site with its price currently lowered to $1399.95.

Quick Link to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Gahan Wilson (1930-2019)

03088