Jan 28, 2021 - Sale 2556

Sale 2556 - Lot 44

Unsold
Estimate: $ 2,500 - $ 3,500
HELEN STONE (1903-1978)
"Tell Me, Mr. Owl." Archive of working and published drawings for the book of the same name by Doris Van Liew Foster (New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1957). Includes more than 50 loose illustrations rendered in watercolor, acrylic, ink, and/or graphite on paper, some with manuscript captions, notations, and measurements in margins. Accompanied by loose printed sheets and one large printer's sheet. Sizes vary, the largest images comprising double-page spread measuring 330x483 mm; 13x19 inches. Condition varies, but images generally clean.

A rich collection of production material for a project evidently dear to Stone by the number of sketches, studies, and thoughtfully composed finished drawings. A charming story of a boy who encounters a wise old owl at Halloween time.
Stone was a prolific mid-century illustrator with a keen sense of design and color. Her intense commitment to the production process is evident in this archive. Stone received two Caldecott Honor Book citations, for "All Around the Town" (1948) and "The Most Wonderful Doll in the World" (1950).