Arthur Rackham: The Hesperides

 

John Milton
Comus, 1634

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/19819/19819-h/19819-h.htm

Arthur Rackham's original book illustration of the Hesperides, mythical nymphs of the evening, shows the trio encircling the tree with the golden apples and singing. Parts of the dragon Ladon, who guards the golden apples, may be seen just outside the fence. The superb image appeared in Heinemann's 1921 edition of John Milton's 1634 masque Comus. The artwork is available from Lucius Books in York, but it may cost you a golden apple.

Arthur Rackham
AbeBooks listing accessed May 12, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/AMIDST-GARDENS-FAIR-HESPERUS-DAUGHTERS-THREE/32438922383/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook

Arthur Rackham
AbeBooks item description

Arthur Rackham
AbeBooks bibliographic details

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Three Cartoons by Al Ross: A Lunch Counter, a Library, and a Hammock

Three examples of original cartoon art by Al Ross came up for auction at Heritage on February 18. The cartoon settings are a full lunch counter, a full library, and a full hammock.

The opening bid of $1 had been placed by February 16 when I first visited the sale. Perhaps there might have been more activity if Heritage had not confused the New Yorker cartoonist with illustrator Al Rossi. Or perhaps not.

Al Ross
Heritage Auctions listing accessed February 16, 2028, one or two days before the sale

The works sold at a good price—for the internet buyer:

Al Ross
Heritage Auctions result of February 18, 2026

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-illustration-art/pulp-pulp-like-digests-and-paperback-art/al-rossi-magazine-single-panel-gag-cartoon-illustration-original-art-group-of-3-c-1980s-total-3-original-art-/a/322607-48302.s?ic2=mybidspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyBids-101116#

Al Ross
Heritage Auctions item description

The lunch counter drawing is the earliest of this trio. It was published in 1000 Jokes in May of 1954, if the notation is accurate. Today, it goes without saying, this type of gag would be shunned for its body shaming. Nevertheless, Ross has given his older women expressions which are priceless.

"Right here, Eddie, they won't dare have any dessert!"
Al Ross
1000 Jokes, May 1954 [?]

The hammock drawing was published in 1988 in The New Yorker—except for a small segment on the extreme left.

Al Ross
The New Yorker, June 27, 1988, p. 70

Al Ross
Original art
The New Yorker, June 27, 1988, p. 70

With a cartoon by Al Ross

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1988-06-27/flipbook/070/

Finally, the library drawing was published, I am told, in Books, Books, Books: A Hilarious Collection of Literary Cartoons. The 1988 collection was edited by Sam Gross and Jim Charlton.

"You know who's beginning to annoy me? Homer!"
Al Ross
Original book art
Books, Books, Books: A Hilarious Collection of Literary Cartoons, edited by S. Gross and Jim Charlton, Harper & Row, 1988

05207

W. B. Park: Two From Bakery Business

Two illustrations from the children's book Bakery Business (1983) by cartoonist W. B. Park were sold on eBay last fall.

This eBay seller, sellallucan, quirkily likes to photograph both the left and right sides of a given original. In this case, where allowance is made for the crease between the pages, that almost makes sense.

According to Park's biography on the book jacket flap, he resided in in Winter Park, Florida. The eBay seller is today located there. Of the many magazines his work appeared in, The New Yorker is, of course, listed first, followed by Smithsonian and Fortune. Surely TV Guide would have been worth a mention here as well.

W. B. Park
eBay listing ended September 25, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/126632557218?_skw=

W. B. Park
eBay item description

W. B. Park
eBay listing ended October 3, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/116295562231?_skw=

W. B. Park
eBay item description

05193

John Held, Jr.: Gone Fishing

New York's James Cummins, bookseller, offers an original book illustration from Outlines of Sport (1930) by John Held, Jr. Twelve images make up the book, each showing a different sport. The drawing of a man trying to bait his hook is accompanied by a copy of the signed, limited edition of 100.

John Held, Jr.
AbeBooks listing accessed November 11, 2024

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=7724806134&searchurl=attrs%3Dsgnd%26ds%3D30%26kn%3DJohn%2BHeld%252C%2BJr.%26rollup%3Don%26sgnd%3Don%26sortby%3D1&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp0-_-image9

John Held, Jr.
AbeBooks item description

05050

William Steig: A Woman in the Time of Pericles

On Monday evening, an original book illustration by cartoonist William Steig was sold by Kensington Estate Auctions. It appears in Will Cuppy's humorous 1950 book The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody. The illustration is the second to accompany the chapter "Pericles."

We see a Greek woman reclining contentedly on a divan. Above her, a boyish angelic face hovers, with wings but no body. The woman might be Aspasia, the companion of Pericles discussed in the chapter. She is certainly not Cleopatra, whatever the writing on the back of the art, as the drawing does not appear in her chapter. Steig seems to be following his own muse rather than Cuppy's text.

Eighteen days before the sale, there was already a bid of $100.

William Steig
Kensington Estate Auctions listing accessed June 5, 2025

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/William-Steig-1907-2003-Original-Published-Dra-118-c-24F4A74B0E?utm_source=alerts&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=artistalerts&utm_content=327823&utm_term=327823

William Steig
Kensington Estate Auctions item description

Sold!

The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody (1950, 2002)
Will Cuppy
Part II:  Ancient Greeks and Worse
"Pericles"
Pages 34-35

https://archive.org/details/declinefallofpra0000cupp_x5v1/page/34/mode/2up

04982

James Thurber: A Collection of Dogs

It is an unusually focused collection of James Thurber art and memorabilia that was sold on Sunday by Saratoga Estate Auction of, as one might guess, Saratoga, Florida. The fabulous theme is Thurber's dogs—on paper, on dishes, and in book form. 

The plates, the first edition of Thurber's Dogs (1955), and the postage stamps are well-established collectibles—cartoon commodities, if you will. But it is the two drawings, matted and framed, that are the one-of-a-kind finds. As such, they should be the prime determinants of the auction price.

James Thurber's shortened signature

James Thurber's signature

There are, of course, no dogs on the U.S. postage stamps. Now where have we seen that font?

It is, of course, misleading to offer such a collection with an auction estimate of $100 to $200, particularly with the two signed original Thurber drawings. But that's the point: the unrealistically low estimate allows potential buyers to visualize themselves winning the whole caboodle with a casual lowball bid. Who among us hasn't been the willing subject of such psychological manipulation from time to time?

James Thurber
Sarasota Estate Auction listing accessed May 25, 2025, two weeks before the sale

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/6-james-thurbers-collection-pieces-1471-c-6fc45188d5?objectID=197379768&algIndex=upcoming_lots_prod&queryID=9fb379145686519cfcf6cd35a3e627ce

James Thurber
Sarasota Estate Auction item overview

No bids had been placed as of May 25, 2025

Sold!

June 12, 2025 Update:  Today this post was discussed on Michael Maslin's Ink Spill. As a result, Sara Thurber Sauers was able to identify the two drawings as original book illustrations from  James Thurber’s The Beast in Me and Other Animals (1948).

Note:  Men, women, and dogs are the classic subjects that make up Thurber's artistic repertoire. I stand ready to display images of original Thurber art on the very blog you see before you.

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