"Eb-Stractions -- Caricatures of Famous People by A. William Ebner" - 2 original albums of pencil cartoons & caricatures, some in color, ca. 1935-1945
Bellevue, PA: Self Published, Ca. 1935-1945. Hardcover. 2 homemade albums, one in cloth and one crudely made out of cardboard, with hundreds of small caricatures in pencil, a few in color, of famous people of the time. Albums measure approximately 13 x 10 inches. Ca. 1935-1945, by A. William Ebner, of Bellevue PA (a suburb north of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River). Ebner was born in July 1924, so we assume he was between the ages of 11 and 20 when he drew these cartoons. His work is precocious, funny and talented, but we have no idea what became of him. Besides the two albums, there is a half filled notebook of cartoons and ideas, and about a dozen loose pages of sketches, typed notes on ideas, jokes, stories (including a one-page 'Western' in the style of Zane Grey) and ruminations. For economy of line and sense of exaggeration, these show influences of Hirschfeld, Covarrubias, Alajalov, 'Zito' and prefigure David Levine. The first album contains approximately 225 separate caricatures, all black and white, the second well over 500 caricatures, some using pastels and colored pencils, a few in ink. Actors, actresses, political figures and literary figures predominate, including many modernists such as James Joyce, T. S. Eliot, Kenneth Patchen, Lola Ridge. Some are just ciipped pieces of paper 2 x 3 inches, others are full page. A treasure trove of excellent cartoons by a talented youth. Very Good. Item #H497
Price: $562.50