The R. Crumb Handbook [together with] ‘C’mon Kid… get in there and FIGHT!!’ print, signed by Crumb.
CRUMB, R. & Peter POPLASKI
The R. Crumb Handbook [together with] ‘C’mon Kid… get in there and FIGHT!!’ print, signed by Crumb.
London: MQ Publications Ltd for Whitechapel Gallery, 2005
Small thick 4to., illustrated yellow boards with matching dustwrapper (£16.99), featuring a self-portrait of the author alongside the speech bubble ‘I’m not here to be Polite!’; pp. [xvi], 9-437, xi] proliferated throughout with a host of full and double-page illustrations, cartoons, comic strips, photographs and magazine reproductions; the CD of ‘R. Crumb’s music sampler to the front free endpaper, still sealed, along with a list of tracks to the front paste-down; fine.
First edition, with full number line 1-10. An original bookmark from the expo is also included. This copy together with a lithograph printed in black on wove paper, from the original exhibition, no. 161 of just 200 copies with Crumb’s name together with the date in pencil to the lower right hand corner. Framed, glazed, and aside from the odd tiny dent, also fine. The illustration can be found reproduced on p.397 of the text.
Robert Crumb was born in Philadelphia in 1943, and over a long and prolific career as a cartoonist contributed to a huge number of publications within the underground comix movement of the 1960s. One of the founders of Zap Comix, he is perhaps best known today for his creations Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural, as well as the images from his Keep On Truckin' strip, all of which became iconic within the countercultural movement. As his work progressed, his illustrations became increasingly autobiographical, but he also maintained sexual overtones in much of his work, including of a pornographic nature.
In 2005, the Whitechapel Gallery in London opened its Robert Crumb Exhibition, with this accompanying biography published in conjunction. The book was co-authored by Crumb’s friend Peter Poplaski, whom Crumb had met in the 1970s. “There's no way to explain to these good people what it takes to be a sincere, dedicated artist in this world.” Crumb wrote about Poplaski in a 2002 article. “A lot of things have to go by the wayside. The ideal is to concentrate on the work. The more focused energy you can put into the art, the better the art will be. Energy is a finite thing and if it's not used wisely we get nowhere. It's a battle every day. You gotta be a warrior, as Pete says. Better that Pete has steered clear of all those "normal" responsibilities than if he had taken them on and then behaved irresponsibly. He has made the choice for art and had the clarity of purpose to stick to it. That is unusual and commendable.”
A comprehensive, wry, self-deprecating, candid, revealing and unexpectedly moving work, which portrays modern life for all of its beauty and horror through the lens of satire. The publication contains 80 personal photographs and 300 images taken from his sketchbooks (many of which have never been seen before). The CD at the beginning of the work also contains 20 original songs that the writer and illustrator has enjoyed playing ‘during his long, half-assed musical career’.
CRUMB, R. & Peter POPLASKI
The R. Crumb Handbook [together with] ‘C’mon Kid… get in there and FIGHT!!’ print, signed by Crumb.
London: MQ Publications Ltd for Whitechapel Gallery, 2005
Small thick 4to., illustrated yellow boards with matching dustwrapper (£16.99), featuring a self-portrait of the author alongside the speech bubble ‘I’m not here to be Polite!’; pp. [xvi], 9-437, xi] proliferated throughout with a host of full and double-page illustrations, cartoons, comic strips, photographs and magazine reproductions; the CD of ‘R. Crumb’s music sampler to the front free endpaper, still sealed, along with a list of tracks to the front paste-down; fine.
First edition, with full number line 1-10. An original bookmark from the expo is also included. This copy together with a lithograph printed in black on wove paper, from the original exhibition, no. 161 of just 200 copies with Crumb’s name together with the date in pencil to the lower right hand corner. Framed, glazed, and aside from the odd tiny dent, also fine. The illustration can be found reproduced on p.397 of the text.
Robert Crumb was born in Philadelphia in 1943, and over a long and prolific career as a cartoonist contributed to a huge number of publications within the underground comix movement of the 1960s. One of the founders of Zap Comix, he is perhaps best known today for his creations Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural, as well as the images from his Keep On Truckin' strip, all of which became iconic within the countercultural movement. As his work progressed, his illustrations became increasingly autobiographical, but he also maintained sexual overtones in much of his work, including of a pornographic nature.
In 2005, the Whitechapel Gallery in London opened its Robert Crumb Exhibition, with this accompanying biography published in conjunction. The book was co-authored by Crumb’s friend Peter Poplaski, whom Crumb had met in the 1970s. “There's no way to explain to these good people what it takes to be a sincere, dedicated artist in this world.” Crumb wrote about Poplaski in a 2002 article. “A lot of things have to go by the wayside. The ideal is to concentrate on the work. The more focused energy you can put into the art, the better the art will be. Energy is a finite thing and if it's not used wisely we get nowhere. It's a battle every day. You gotta be a warrior, as Pete says. Better that Pete has steered clear of all those "normal" responsibilities than if he had taken them on and then behaved irresponsibly. He has made the choice for art and had the clarity of purpose to stick to it. That is unusual and commendable.”
A comprehensive, wry, self-deprecating, candid, revealing and unexpectedly moving work, which portrays modern life for all of its beauty and horror through the lens of satire. The publication contains 80 personal photographs and 300 images taken from his sketchbooks (many of which have never been seen before). The CD at the beginning of the work also contains 20 original songs that the writer and illustrator has enjoyed playing ‘during his long, half-assed musical career’.
CRUMB, R. & Peter POPLASKI
The R. Crumb Handbook [together with] ‘C’mon Kid… get in there and FIGHT!!’ print, signed by Crumb.
London: MQ Publications Ltd for Whitechapel Gallery, 2005
Small thick 4to., illustrated yellow boards with matching dustwrapper (£16.99), featuring a self-portrait of the author alongside the speech bubble ‘I’m not here to be Polite!’; pp. [xvi], 9-437, xi] proliferated throughout with a host of full and double-page illustrations, cartoons, comic strips, photographs and magazine reproductions; the CD of ‘R. Crumb’s music sampler to the front free endpaper, still sealed, along with a list of tracks to the front paste-down; fine.
First edition, with full number line 1-10. An original bookmark from the expo is also included. This copy together with a lithograph printed in black on wove paper, from the original exhibition, no. 161 of just 200 copies with Crumb’s name together with the date in pencil to the lower right hand corner. Framed, glazed, and aside from the odd tiny dent, also fine. The illustration can be found reproduced on p.397 of the text.
Robert Crumb was born in Philadelphia in 1943, and over a long and prolific career as a cartoonist contributed to a huge number of publications within the underground comix movement of the 1960s. One of the founders of Zap Comix, he is perhaps best known today for his creations Fritz the Cat and Mr. Natural, as well as the images from his Keep On Truckin' strip, all of which became iconic within the countercultural movement. As his work progressed, his illustrations became increasingly autobiographical, but he also maintained sexual overtones in much of his work, including of a pornographic nature.
In 2005, the Whitechapel Gallery in London opened its Robert Crumb Exhibition, with this accompanying biography published in conjunction. The book was co-authored by Crumb’s friend Peter Poplaski, whom Crumb had met in the 1970s. “There's no way to explain to these good people what it takes to be a sincere, dedicated artist in this world.” Crumb wrote about Poplaski in a 2002 article. “A lot of things have to go by the wayside. The ideal is to concentrate on the work. The more focused energy you can put into the art, the better the art will be. Energy is a finite thing and if it's not used wisely we get nowhere. It's a battle every day. You gotta be a warrior, as Pete says. Better that Pete has steered clear of all those "normal" responsibilities than if he had taken them on and then behaved irresponsibly. He has made the choice for art and had the clarity of purpose to stick to it. That is unusual and commendable.”
A comprehensive, wry, self-deprecating, candid, revealing and unexpectedly moving work, which portrays modern life for all of its beauty and horror through the lens of satire. The publication contains 80 personal photographs and 300 images taken from his sketchbooks (many of which have never been seen before). The CD at the beginning of the work also contains 20 original songs that the writer and illustrator has enjoyed playing ‘during his long, half-assed musical career’.