I’ve never seen a James Thurber drawing I didn’t love, but his “What have you done with Dr. Millmoss?” published in The New Yorker July 14, 1934, stands atop all the rest for me. As I’ve written, Millmoss changed my life.
One of the greatest pleasures in this New Yorker cartooniverse is seeing original art. Unfortunately, the whereabouts of the original Dr. Millmoss drawing is unknown. At least it’s unknown to anyone I know who knows about such things.
While we know where the good doctor is within the drawing itself, the location of this ultra-classic work remains a mystery. Does anyone out there have the original drawing, or know someone who does? It would be great to see a scan of the original piece, and/or the piece itself. But bottom line: it would be enough just knowing that the original drawing has survived.
— Here’s Millmoss in a 1935 ad for The Seventh New Yorker Album.
Here’s a recent Spill post about coming across Millmoss in situ.
And here’s Thurber’s A-Z entry:
James Thurber Born, Columbus, Ohio, December 8, 1894. Died 1961, New York City. New Yorker work: 1927 -1961, with several pieces run posthumously. According to the New Yorker’s legendary editor, William Shawn, “In the early days, a small company of writers, artists, and editors — E.B. White, James Thurber, Peter Arno, and Katharine White among them — did more to make the magazine what it is than can be measured.”
Key cartoon collection: The Seal in the Bedroom and Other Predicaments (Harper & Bros., 1932). Key anthology (writings & drawings): The Thurber Carnival (Harper & Row, 1945). There have been a number of Thurber biographies. Burton Bernstein’s Thurber (Dodd, Mead, 1975) and Harrison Kinney’s James Thurber: His Life and Times (Henry Holt & Co., 1995) are essential. Website
If you enjoy seeing Thurber cartoons in their original state, then A Mile and a Half of Lines: The Art of James Thurber, edited by Michael Rosen, is for you. It includes contributions from Rosemary Thurber, Ian Frazier, Seymour Chwast, Liza Donnelly, and myself.
