Brooks, Charles (Editor)

Best Editorial Cartoons of 1972: A Pictorial History of the Year

ISBN: 0911116958
Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing Company, 1973. First Edition. Hardcover. Inscribed & signed with caricature by Charles Brooks. "The peculiar satire characteristic of the labors of a skilled cartoonist forms the common denominator for this lively anthology of outstanding editorial cartoons. Featured here are the best works on the major issues of 1972 by 110 leading editorial cartoonists, nine of them Pulitzer Prize winners, representing newspapers, magazines, television stations and cartoon syndicates throughout the United States and Canada. Liberal and conservative, anti- and pro-Establishment, advocates of sweeping change and defenders of the status quo- all are given expression among these 400 gems of pictorial commentary. As Scott Long points out in his perceptive foreword, cartooning is almost as old as time, more ancient than the press or even the written word. WIthin this (twentieth) century, however, it has evolved into a highly sophisticated and persuasive form of art." (from front flap) The first volume of selected editorial cartoons edited & with contributions by Charles Brooks (1920-2011), an award-winning editorial cartoonist for the Birmingham (Alabama) News & former president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. With a Foreword by Scott Long (1917- ?), a venerable cartoonist who was a founder & also past president of the AAEC, as well as a contributor to this volume. With a riveting assortment of hysterical-satirical, delightful-disturbing editorial cartoons that cover & comment upon the figures & happenings of the very-eventful year of 1972- the Presidential election which was won by Richard Nixon but bore the seeds of Watergate, the dragged-out war in Vietnam, the drug culture, women's liberation & much more all around the world. Large-format hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first edition, first printing as stated at copyright page. On recto of short title page (second page leaf), on publisher's plate affixed thereon, Brooks has hand-written & signed in olive-green ink: "To: Bill Plumb-/ with best wishes,/ (signed) Charles/ Brooks." To the left of this inscription & signature, Brooks has hand-drawn a caricature that looks to us somewhat like Nixon's notorious Vice President Spiro Agnew (of course a subject of some of the cartoons herein), or possibly of Brooks himself- we're not quite sure who has been depicted. A fascinating, thoughtful & most-enjoyable collectible compilation sure to bring flashbacks & guffaws to the older Third Mind collector (like this writer); in its rarest contemporary form & greatly enriched by Brooks' inscription, signature & caricature. Book in relatively fine-to-very-fine condition with only slight rubbing to esp. front, back covers & spine; a bit of wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same; mild rubbing, browning & spotting to edges of text block. Interior very fine with only a hint of browning to blank paste-downs, endpapers & page leaves (the latter chiefly at blank margins/edges). Dust jacket (again relatively) fine with mild rubbing, browning, faint scratching & occasional spotting to front, back covers, spine & flaps; very slight wear & some tiny bumps, creases at/from edges & corners of same; some tiny chips at spine-edges, corners with miniscule loss of paper. Fine-Very Fine / Fine. [Item #7309]

Price: $80.00