Sensational World-Wide Tour

Ma! Dad! Leo the Lion is gonna be here! In person! I wanna go see him! Can we? Huh, can we? . . . Awwwww, why not?

1930s poster

Uniquely Personal Perspective

Thank goodness for Hannes Bok, bringing a uniquely personal perspective to the art of illustration.

Hannes Bok — Fantasy Fiction — June 1953

Donald's Dream of the Triumph of Donald the First

Spooooky

A spooky illustration from a spooky book for a spooky time of year:

Frederick Simpson Coburn — frontispiece for 1899 Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Voyages Extraordinaires

A fantastic inspiration from the 1860s for Edgar Rice Burroughs' later Pellucidar series.

Superimposing Change

And this is the sort of residence that an alchemist would have resided in (or perhaps STILL resides in), inhabiting a cold dark room with a single window on the upper floor lit by a lonely light deep into the night, ever attempting to alter elements or at least effect a superimposing change upon self.

Great Pleasure

Alchemists took great pleasure in studying what came before.

Better Living Through Alchemy

Impossible Tasks

If I've had past lives, and I feel that I have, I was an alchemist in one of them. I probably wasted a lot of time chasing after impossible tasks, which is pretty much what I'm doing in this lifetime.

Hooray! Hallowe'en—is—a—Coming

The Sorrows of Satan

For Supreme Satisfaction in Touring . . .

I love the look and color of these automobiles. . .

The Royal Treatment

This is a lovely illustration by August Reseller from 1911 of a lion getting the royal treatment. 28 years later, Bert Lahr's Cowardly Lion had a similar appearance and treatment.

Visit Cuba

If you want to visit Cuba, you better do it soon before President Trump cuts you off and sends you to the principal's office. Actually, he'd make a good high school principal, I think — idolized by the teachers, hated by the students.

An Ironic Fist

Any of you oldsters remember this guy? Buffalo Bob Smith and his little protege Howdy Doody ruled the peanut gallery with an ironic fist, way back when.

20 Thousand Million Years

This blog is not extinct, it's just taking an extended break. After all, we have 20 thousand million years ahead of us, so hang in there . . .

Barr Work

Early George Barr work from an early fanzine . . .

Empty Calories for the Brain

Much of early 20th century advertising art can be considered kitsch — gaudy, tacky, however one defines the term. And yet, as 'art for the masses', it has appeal, at least as eye candy — empty calories for the brain. My aesthetic appetite always has a taste for the exotic flavors, whatever the caloric level.

Certificate of Ownership

It used to be that collectors of books would paste an 'ex libris' label in each of their lovely acquisitions. Basically it was a little certificate of ownership that indicated, "this is my treasure, hands-off unless I deem you worthy of loaning this book, and even then you better damn well return it", or sentiments of that nature.

It used to be that persons with money would have their book plates designed by an artist of renown, making them quite collectible in and of themselves.

Then, back in the '60s, there were adolescents like me who bought, for a couple of bucks, a little box of mass-produced bookplates for my mass-produced books. Tolkien's Middle Earth had a huge upswelling back then and I had assumed this was an image of Bilbo Baggins, even though this guy doesn't have big furry feet.

I think I saw this same bookplate design at B Daltons a couple of years ago. Every once in a while as I look through books that have been with me for years, I see one of these with my name signed on it and think again, "this is my treasure . . . "

Now THAT's a Cowboy Hero . . .

He knows what needs to be done . . .

Sweet Summer Nights

It's not officially summer where I am, but it's starting to feel like it.

Here's a toast to sweet summer nights to come!

A stipple print of art by Camille Roqueplan — 1839