FIRST EDITION OF THE KEWPIES THEIR BOOK, CALLIGRAPHICALLY INSCRIBED BY ILLUSTRATOR ROSE O'NEILL
O'NEILL, Rose. The Kewpies Their Book. New York: Frederick A. Stokes, (1913). Octavo, original pictorial tan paper boards, mounted cover illustration, pictorial endpapers. $1200.
First edition of this tribute to the most famous of prewar comic characters, the Kewpies, beautifully signed by author and illustrator Rose O'Neill.
"Rose Cecil O'Neill was an iconoclast in every sense of the word. A self-taught bohemian artist, who ascended through a male-dominated field to become a top illustrator and the first to build a merchandising empire from her work, with her invention of the Kewpie doll… In 1907, O'Neill began developing short illustrated stories featuring cherubic characters, who 'did good deeds in a humorous way.' The comic strip 'The Kewpies' premiered in Ladies' Home Journal in 1909 and was an instant hit. The strip's spectacular popularity inspired her to envision the Kewpie as a doll. Kewpie dolls hit the shelves in 1913 and immediately became a phenomenon—it took factories in six different countries to fill orders. The Kewpie became the first novelty toy distributed worldwide and earned O'Neill a fortune" (Heather Thomas, Library of Congress). Without dust jacket.
A few faint smudges to interior, only a bit of wear to binding. A bright near-fine copy.