INSCRIBED AND TWICE SIGNED BY CHARLES SCHULZ TO HIS ASSISTANT DALE HALE, LATER A WELL-KNOWN COMIC ARTIST AND ANIMATOR, WITH A FULL-PAGE SKETCH OF SNOOPY

SCHULZ, Charles M. The Unsinkable Charlie Brown. A New Peanuts Book. New York, Chicago, San Francisco: Hold, Rinehart, and Winston, (1967). Octavo, original pictorial purple paper wrappers.

First edition, inscribed in green marker on the half title to the Hale family, including Dale Hale, Schulz’s assistant on the Peanuts comics and later an acclaimed comic artist and animator: “For the Hales with friendship—Charlie Schulz,” and with an additional full-page sketch of Snoopy sitting in the grass on the verso of the front wrapper signed “Schulz.”

In this book in the Peanuts series, the Peanuts characters play baseball, shovel snow, cry over the misfortune of having to wear an eyepatch for a lazy eye, and and struggle with the indignities of school. “Peanuts first appeared in October 1950 in eight daily newspapers. The feature was immediately popular and was soon picked up by hundreds of other newspapers throughout the country. By the end of the decade Schulz had become arguably the best-known cartoonist in the United States… By the time of Schulz’s death [in 2000] he had drawn a total of 18,250 Peanuts strips, and the cartoon was syndicated in 2600 newspapers worldwide, appearing in 21 languages in 75 countries” (ANB). This copy features an original sketch by Schulz of Snoopy sitting in the grass. Snoopy, based on one of Schulz’s own dogs, has become one one of the most beloved members of the Peanuts gang. The recipients of this copy were the Hale family. Dale Hale was Charles Schulz’s assistant on the Peanuts comics for several years. Later, he went to work on the Flintstones and Yogi Bear comics for eight years. Eventually, he began his own comic, Figments, which went into syndication worldwide for 15 years. Hale was also heavily involved in animation, working for shows including Pink Panther, Road Runner, Flipper, Duck Tales, Ghost Busters, Tiny Toons, and Shelly Duvall’s Bedtime Stories.

Inscription and sketch bold and bright, trace of price sticker discoloration to front wrapper, mild rubbing and toning to spine. A handsome copy, most desirable inscribed and with original sketch.