Naked People: A Selection of Drawings From Four of His Books: It’s A Long Way to Heaven; What Am I Doing Here?; And On the Eighth Day; Cave Drawings for the Future.

DEAN, Abner [William Safire].

$1,800.00

Item Number: 146550

New York: Stein and Day, 1963.

First edition of this collection of drawings from four books by American cartoonist Abner Dean. Oblong octavo, original half cloth, illustrated throughout. Association copy, inscribed by the artist on the dedication page, “To Bill Safire – the one-man Publicombine Cordially, Abner Dean.” Accompanied by an autograph letter signed by Dean to Safire thanking him for his response and “generous gift” with a drawing, which has also been signed by him. The recipient, William Safire was an important American author, columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter. He joined Nixon’s campaign for the 1960 Presidential race, and supported him again in 1968. After Nixon’s 1968 victory, Safire served as a speechwriter for him and Spiro Agnew. He authored several political columns in addition to his weekly column “On Language” in The New York Times Magazine from 1979 until the month of his death and authored two books on grammar and linguistics: The New Language of Politics (1968) and what Zimmer called Safire’s “magnum opus,” Safire’s Political Dictionary. Safire later served as a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board from 1995 to 2004 and in 2006 was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush. In near fine condition with light bumping to the crown and foot of the spine. Housed in the original slipcase.

Abner Dean was an American cartoonist who often depicted extremes of human behavior amid grim, decaying urban settings or barren landscapes. "His pictures are trick mirrors in which we catch sight of those absurd fragments of ourselves that we never see in the smooth glass of habit" (Clifton Fadiman). "The characters in these drawings are modestly sexless, but they reveal all sorts of things about themselves through their activities. Their guiding star is folly, and when they act in groups, it’s always under the direction of a collective id" (Chris Lanier). As indicated by the title of his 'Naked People,' his more personal work portrayed most often unclothed people in a variety of absurdist situations, reflecting the themes of disillusionment, self-delusion, yearning and the meaninglessness of modern life.