The latest A New Yorker State of Mind digs deep, as is its custom, into a long ago issue of the magazine. This week is of special interest (to this cartoonist) as it’s an issue featuring James Thurber’s first New Yorker cover. Read the post here.
In 2023, The New Yorker republished that Thurber cover. Here’s what the Spill had to say about it…
August 29, 2023
That Was Then , This Is Now
This week’s republication of a 1936 James Thurber New Yorker cover sent me over the moon (honestly, any Thurber art on the cover would’ve). It also sent me back, via The New Yorker‘s online archive to that year’s covers, and cover artists. Anytime I look at issues of many years gone by I experience a that was then, this is now moment. It’s a reflexive observational experience that’s developed over time as I’ve paddled around in the magazine’s history (that history includes The New Yorker‘s very first issue to the one that was published this week).
Looking at the covers of 1936, and counting how many were by contributing cartoonists (39), the percentage might surprise those used to the contemporary scene, where the magazine’s covers are overwhelmingly produced by illustrators. When the Tina Brown New Yorker era began in 1992, the ratio of cartoonist’s covers to illustrator’s covers was reversed.
For instance: of the 48 covers in 2022, 7 were contributed by 6 cartoonists: George Booth, Edward Koren, Barry Blitt, Saul Steinberg, John Cuneo, and Roz Chast. Sadly, three of those cartoonists — Steinberg, Booth, and Koren — are no longer with us). Of the 52 covers in 1936 (there weren’t any double issues back then), 10 of the magazine’s cartoonists produced 39 of the covers. The names from 1936 will likely be familiar to those who are familiar with New Yorker art, both cover and cartoon: Alajalov, Helen Hokinson, Robt. Day, William Steig, Rea Irvin, James Thurber, Perry Barlow, Leonard Dove, William Crawford Galbraith, and Peter Arno.
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September 7, 2023
Comparing The 2023 Thurber New Yorker Cover & The 1936 New Yorker Cover
The recent big Thurber news was of course the republication of The New Yorker Thurber cover from February 29, 1936, for the The New Yorker issue of September 4, 2023. I thought it would be fun to place an original 1936 issue side-by-side with a 2023 issue to see what we might see:
Besides the size, dates and prices (and even the color) the biggest difference is that we can see the right side of the tree trunk on the 2023 cover. Is this some modern day trickery? No, it’s likely the cut (i.e., the trim) of this particular 1936 cover in the Spill library.
I looked up two other sources to make sure I wasn’t just makin’ stuff up. The copy shown on The New Yorker‘s online digital archive (shown left) is also trimmed.
When I dug out The Complete Book Of Covers From The New Yorker, I found that the image used (it’s given a full page) shows the right side of the tree trunk.
Digging a little deeper into the disappearing side of the tree trunk, I asked Sara Sauers, James Thurber’s granddaughter, if The New Yorker had shot this 2023 cover using the original art…or?
She replied that the Thurber family does not have the original cover. She also sent along a photo of her copy of the “new” cover side-by-side with her 1936 copy. As you see below, she also has a trimmed 1936 issue (it’s not quite as trimmed as the one I have). She also wondered about the pink used in ’23 vs the pink of ’36 (that will be addressed below).
Wanting to know how The New Yorker ended up showing the fuller art for the 2023 cover I asked Francoise Mouly, The New Yorker art editor (she’s in charge of the magazine’s covers), what the magazine’s source was for the 2023 cover. She replied:
Six Covers
In his thirty-four years as a New Yorker contributor, James Thurber did six covers for the magazine.
The covers, shown above, are dated, left to right: February 29, 1936, April 29, 1939, April 27, 1940, July 5, 1941, October 3, 1942, February 9, 1946. You might remember that the February ’36 cover was brought back as a cover in modern times, appearing September 4, 2023:
In a recent auction, this piece was offered (and sold). Obviously a very close relative to the February ’36 cover…
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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