I was leafing through Thomas Kunkel’s book, Letters From the Editor (the Editor: The New Yorker’s founder and first editor, Harold Ross) when I came upon the one letter in the book to Rea Irvin (Irvin was The New Yorker’s art consultant from the magazine’s inception through 1952). Written in May
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Rea Irvin, Beyond The New Yorker
Rea Irvin, who gave us the impossibly perfect Eustace Tilley (the top-hatted dandy on the first issue of The New Yorker, February 21, 1925) was no budding flower when Harold Ross hired him to guide the magazine’s art. Irvin was an established artist, with his cartoons and
Read moreFrom the Ink Spill Archives: A Wartime New Yorker Pamphlet
Back in late May I posted interesting cover art from Rea Irvin. Today, another item from the bundle of donated materials, Excerpts From The New Yorker. As explained inside the front cover: This 27 page pamphlet contains drawings by Alain (on the cover as well as inside), Peter Arno, Robert Day, George Price, Richard Decker, Charles
Read moreRea Irvin Parodies His Eustace Tilley New Yorker Cover
An exceptionally generous friend of Ink Spill recently donated a bundle of rare New Yorker ephemera to the archives. I’ll post some from time-to-time, beginning with this wonderful parody of the New Yorker‘s very first cover. There have been a number of parodies of the Eustace Tilley cover over the years, but until this piece arrived in the mail I’d
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