Flair - Volume 2, No. 1, January 1951

(London: Cowles Magazines, Inc.), 1951.

Price: $2,500.00

Softcover. Volume 2, No. 1. Quarto. 120pp. Heavily illustrated. Cover with a split and a bit of loss at the spine, staples somewhat oxidized, modest interior toning, very good. Signed by John Steinbeck, editor Fleur Cowles, and contributor William Ward Beecher.

The final issue of this very interesting magazine, sent by editor Fleur Cowles along with a warm Typed Letter Signed to artist William Ward Beecher to commemorate the collaboration. Fleur has Signed the magazine on the first page. Beecher allowed the use of a black and white reproduction of a Stenibeck-themed trompe l'oeil painting to illustrate the article "Tortilla B Flat: A Serenade to John Steinbeck Composed on the Typewriter," by Eddie Condon (also illustrated with a portrait of Steinbeck by Robert Capa). A note in Beecher's hand laid in says: "N.B. this copy autographed by Fleur Cowles is also signed by John and me-," and indeed Steinbeck has Signed above the painting and Beecher below it. (Also laid in is a Typed Letter Signed from a Flair employee to Beecher, asking him to sign an agreement to reproduce the artwork.)

A 2001 letter from Steinbeck's son Thom, written to supply details about sitting for a portrait by Beecher, called the artist a family friend and that his father John Steinbeck "maintained an abiding fascination for Beecher's work through the years. A half-dozen examples of the artist's best canvases still brighten our house in New York." A nice association. The magazine also includes art by Saul Steinberg, an article on Hemingway by his widow Mary, and verse by Theodore Roethke and Ogden Nash.


Item #530781

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Item #530781 Flair - Volume 2, No. 1, January 1951. John STEINBECK, William Ward Beecher, Fleur Cowles.
Flair - Volume 2, No. 1, January 1951
Flair - Volume 2, No. 1, January 1951
Flair - Volume 2, No. 1, January 1951
Flair - Volume 2, No. 1, January 1951
Flair - Volume 2, No. 1, January 1951