Nov 17, 2016 - Sale 2432

Sale 2432 - Lot 174

Price Realized: $ 2,000
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
(HUMOR.) The Fortunes of Ferdinand Flipper. [78] pages. Oblong 8vo, original engraved front wrapper, chipped and worn, two small archival tape repairs, lacking rear wrapper, backed with cello tape; moderate wear and dampstaining, first two leaves detached. New York: Brother Jonathan Office [Wilson & Co.], circa 1851
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Additional Details

One of the first comic books written in the United States (the earlier Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck being an adaptation of a French work). It tells the story of a reckless adventurer through a courtship, a stint as a printer for Brother Jonathan magazine (not coincidentally the publisher of the book), a jaunt to the California gold mines, and death. This copy was printed by Nicholas Muller per the notice on verso of the title page; the copies held by Yale and Dartmouth were printed by C.A. Alvord, and add "The End" to the final leaf.
The American Antiquarian Society's "Report of the Librarian" for October 1945 commented: "The curious thing about this comic book is that it is made up of stock cuts about which the tale meanders as the available pictures dictate" (page 279). This was noted in an 1851 issue of the Dollar Magazine, which described it as an "oblong pamphlet . . . from the press of Wilson & Co. . . . renewing acquaintance in regular succession with all the wood cuts he has ever known or seen on service in Yankee Doodle, the Paris Charivari, and anywhere else you can think of" (page 239). As both the Dollar Magazine and Brother Jonathan were published by Wilson & Co., we surmise that the recycled illustrations are a feature rather than a bug. The effect is oddly postmodern, and certainly intended to add to the charm. Only 7 copies in OCLC, and only one other known at auction.