No Monday Tilley Watch this week as we’re midway through a double issue period.That means no new issue to (digitally) thumb through this Monday morning. The MTW will be back next Monday.
For now, here’s a quick look at an oddity from the Spill‘s library: a The New Yorker Custom Cartoon Book: Sample Edition (published in 2004).
Once upon a time, a large number of customized cartoon collections were produced by The New Yorker‘s Cartoon Bank. “Customized” as opposed to the popular theme books produced by The New Yorker (including such favorites as The New Yorker Book Of Dog Cartoons, The New Yorker Book of Cat Cartoons, etc.).
On page 1 of the Sampler shown above, The Cartoon Bank asked and answered a question:
What is a New Yorker Custom Cartoon Book?
The New Yorker Custom Cartoon Book is a highly-customizable book filled with New Yorker cartoons chosen by you. It’s a book that combines your organization’s branding with all the intelligence and wit of The New Yorker.
Here are a few pages from the book’s intro: 
The sampler includes eleven chapters — each a collection of cartoons under a theme (Financial, Food & Drink, Technology, Health). I suppose, in a way, it could be considered a Best Of The New Yorker’s Themed Cartoon Books, as the many of the topics were produced byThe New Yorker as single themed collections (Money, Law, Technology, etc.).
I’ve always enjoyed these Cartoon Bank collections, and have made a stab at collecting them. I’m not sure there’s a record of just how many titles were eventually produced. As I’ve written here before, I was told once by a CB employee, that there were thousands.
For now, this Sampler may be my favorite.