Cartoon Brew

CANEMAKER'S WINSOR MCCAY

John Canemaker’s Winsor McCay – His Life and Art, his 1987 biography of the great newspaper cartoonist and pioneer animator, will be published again in October by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. in a revised and expanded edition. The original tome, long out-of-print, is one of the most valuable - and entertaining - animation histories on my bookshelf. This new edition has me salivating.

The revised edition is now 272 pages - 48 more pages than the old edition - and filled with never-before published photos, artwork and research. New material includes:

• Never-before published pages from McCay’s private animation production notebook revealing the filmmaker’s ideas for timing and visualizations in "Gertie the Dinosaur" (1914), "Lusitania," and "Flip’s Circus" (c. 1921).

•Rare concept art by McCay for a second film starring Gertie the Dinosaur.

•New documentation of McCay’s early career, including the Wonderland and Eden Musee in Detroit, where he sold his first cartoons.

• McCay’s professional relationship and longtime personal friendship with cartoonist Apthorp "Ap" Adams, one of his two assistants on the monumental animated epic "The Sinking of the Lusitania" (1918).

• Full-page reproduction of a 1907 New York Herald showcasing eight top comic strip cartoonists and illustratorm including McCay, and their art.

• A complete Winsor McCay Chronology, and extensive additions to the Notes and Bibliography sections.

• Many rarely seen photos and drawings from private collections.

• A new cover, book design and page layout.

The book retails for $40.00, but I recommend you pre-order it on Amazon.com for $29.70.

Posted by at August 25, 2005 09:14 AM