SLOANE, ERIC. Group of 39 First Editions by or with contributions by Sloane. Mostly 8vo, original bindings and dust jackets as issued. Condition varies but quite good overall. Several volumes inscribed and signed, and a few with sketches. In addition to the First Editions are Dean Mawdsley's Sloane bibliography (and photocopy of the 2003 Supplement), revised and enlarged editions of 5 titles, and an original ink drawing by Sloane for his illustration on page 29 of this autobiography, Eighty, New York, 1985, the Signed, Limited Edition of which is included. Complete list available upon request. Mostly New York, 1940-86
the author's complete oeuvre. The prolific American writer and artist Sloane was a champion of rural American folk culture and contributed numerous volumes on Colonial tools, architecture, farming, and folklore. Equally famed for his books and artworks showing his mastery of meteorology, aviation and landscapes which were inspired by early work for Roosevelt Field aviators including Wiley Post (who taught him to fly), he was commissioned by the U.S. Air Force and his largest cloud painting hangs in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.. Amelia Earhart was an early client and friend who bought his first cloud painting and this lot includes a first printing of Gremlin Americanus which is inscribed and signed by Earhart's husband, George Putnam, and her cousin, Cecilia Earhart to a friend. This scarce work about WWII aviation gremlins inspired Roald Dahl's book, Gremlins, and several Twilight Zone episodes; it is the third of Sloane's three uncommon wartime publications in this lot, including Clouds, Air, and Wind, NY, 1941, and Camouflage Simplified, NY1942 as well as a set of War Office Booklets he illustrated. Sloane's distinct calligraphy, evident throughout these works, was developed under the tutelage of his childhood friend, Frederic Goudy, the great typographer and creator of Goudy Type.
