Peter Arno’s Dust Jackets, 1927-1945
A by-product of writing a book is the accumulation of materials hunted and gathered during the research. When I was full speed ahead on researching the Peter Arno biography back in 1999 thru 2015, I came by a lot of “stuff” including all but one of the books you see below. Beggars Abroad, by Jim Tully was available then, but the price was always too crazy high. Despite the Arno biography being done and done, I finally completed the set of Arno illustrated book covers last week when an incredibly inexpensive copy of Beggars Abroad showed up online. Everything about the cover (the colors, the design, and of course, the portrait of Tully) is just right. I always loved Arno’s handling of Tully’s massive head of hair.
Anywho, with that book now here, I think I can somewhat safely say that the Spill library’s set of Arno illustrated book covers is complete* (notice I said “book covers” — Arno did covers for pamphlets as well, and at least one home-made charity cookbook…and of course, there are the five New Yorker “Albums” of drawings bearing Arno covers — no one else has come close).
Top row, l-r:
France On Ten Words A Day, by H. McCarty Lee. Simon & Schuster , 1927. Cover by Arno and Arno illustrations sprinkled throughout.
Father William, by Donald Ogden Stewart. Harpers & Bros., 1929. Cover by Arno; illustrations within by Eldon Kelley
Beggars Abroad, by Jim Tully. Doubleday Doran, 1930. Cover by Arno.
Middle row, l-r:
Comic Relief, Compiled by R.S. Linscott. The Laugh Club, 1932. Cover by Arno.
Whiteman’s Burden, by Margaret Livingston Whiteman and Isabel Leighton. The Viking Press, 1933. Cover and numerous illustrations by Arno.
Food At The Fair, by Crosby Gaige. Exposition Publications, 1939. Cover and several illustrations by Arno. Softcover (don’t know if there was a hardcover of this).
Bottom row, l-r:
Where To Dine In ’39, Compiled by Diana Ashley. Crown, 1939. Cover by Arno.
Where Are The Customers’ Yachts? by Fred Schwed, Jr.. Simon & Schuster, 1940. Cover and slightly more than a handful of Arno illustrations.
The Bedside Tales. Introduction by Arno. William Penn Pub., 1945. Cover by Arno.
*The one book left off the above grouping of nine is The Low-Down, by Charles G. Shaw. Henry Holt & Co., 1928. I’ve yet to see a dust jacketed copy, and don’t know if one exists. An Arno drawing (of Anita Loos) does appear on the books actual front cover. He also supplied portraits for each of the book’s twenty-four subjects. Here’s a close-up of the Loos drawing on the cover (none of the interior portraits are in color).
*also left off is The 1927 LineBook, compiled by Shelby Little. A soft cover sixty-four page collection of pieces from The Chicago Tribune. Even though it has the word “book” in its title, I’m not sure that it really is a book — it’s more like a booklet. Arno did the wrap-around non-dust jacketed cover.
Finally: if somewhere out there knows of a book jacket illustrated by Arno that’s missing from this post, please let me know. I’d love to be surprised.
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The Tilley Watch Online, The Week Of January 25 – 29, 2021
An end of week listing of New Yorker artists contributing to newyorker.com features
The Daily Cartoon: Kim Warp, Evan Lian, Teresa Burns Parkhurst, Mark Ulriksen, Lars Kenseth, Paul Noth.
Daily Shouts: Teresa Burns Parkhurst, Ali Fitzgerald, Zoe Si, Jake Goldwasser.
Barry Blitt’s Kvetchbook: “Fran Lebowitz Takes To The Streets”