SMALL BUT SIGNIFICANT ARCHIVE REGARDING THE TRANSLATION OF THE "CRUMB" BIOGRAPHY signed.
Winter's Calif. Robert Dennis Crumb, 1977.
R. Crumb. First Edition. Signed by Spiegleman, Crumb, Mason. Crumb, Robert [Spiegelman, Alessandrini, Mason]. SMALL BUT SIGNIFICANT ARCHIVE REGARDING THE TRANSLATION OF THE "CRUMB" BIOGRAPHY. In the late 1970's Montreal writer & comic book collector, William J. Mason spent several years working on a translation of one of the earliest biographies of the pre-eminent underground comic artist, Robert Crumb originally written in France by Marjorie Alessandrini. Mason spent several years on the project, had the approvals of Alessandrini & the support of Crumb but the project never materialized. What we have here is a fine small archive of Crumb letters related to the undertaking containing wonderful content. The file consists of three important letters [5 tight pages] to Bill Mason, the translator of the French biography called CRUMB, including his copy of CRUMB [in very good condition with his notes scattered throughout] with Mason's ownership signature dated 1977, along with a lengthy Maus postcard addressed to Mason from Art Spiegelman / Maus, June '79, concerning Crumb, along with a fine 2 page letter from Marjorie Alessandrini, dated Paris, April 24th 1979, to Bill Mason dealing with her recommendations for publishing contacts for CRUMB in the US, including comments about Masons fine translation and her delight with Crumbs approval of the work in progress. 1 - [Crumb, Robert] Art Spiegelman / Maus. APS, June 1979, on Spiegelman's own illustrated postcard, in fine condition. Spiegelman talks about a possible visit to Montreal in August & thanks Mason for the articles and the translation of the Crumb piece which he found "interesting" "(Crumb's America" far more so). . . I read the entire Tales From The Crypt books recently. A[nd] thought they represented an (unconscious) America. Jewish postwar response to the holocaust. The flip-side of Weird Science's preoccupation with Hiroshima and the Cold War. Do you see that too - or should I elaborate. Oh well back to Maus. All the best / Art. regards from F. [with Maus illustrated]. Superb example. with 2 - Crumb, Robert. Als to Bill Mason [Winters Calif.],dated Sept. 4th 1978. 1 lengthy page in Crumb's neat small hand. In part - "Dear Mr. Mason / Thank you for sending me the translation of M. Alessandrini's book about me. . . I'm overwhelmed . . . / Needless to say, I was completely absorbed and fascinated by her analysis of me . . .to see how she interpreted and intellectualized my crazy comics. / this is the first really heavy Freudian-type of criticism I've ever read of my sex stuff. . . with 3 - Crumb, Robert. Als to Bill Mason [Winters Calif.],dated Dec 6th 1978. 1 compact page in Crumb's neat small hand. In part - " Bill / Thanks very much for the latest chapter of the "Allessanrini Nails Crumb" series. . . it's very embarrassing but intensely fascinating. . . it's always delicious to read about yourself, and the more probing, the better. . . it's narcissistic. . . with 4 - A particularly informative & interesting lengthy biographical & historical letter that is unique in content. Crumb, Robert. Als to Bill Mason [Winters Calif.],dated August 11th, 1979. Very lengthy 3 page letter in Crumb's neat small hand about the chapters sent to him, adding his own comments & corrections. In part - " . . . I: 2/ Underground comics & the counterculture: Page 11: She says 'Crumb's frustration . . . led him to become the first artist to publish a comic book using the methods of the underground press'. This is incorrect. I was preceded by at least two others, maybe more, Jack Jackson published 'God Nose' in Texas around 1965, or possibly even '63. Joel Beck published several comic books in 1965 & '66 in /San Francisco. 'ZAP' was, I suppose the first really successful underground comic." / Page 14: 'Cu##' Comics - it was mostly a solo book by Rory Hayes but it contains one page by Jay Lynch and one by Kim Deitch. I doubt the story about most of the print run being destroyed. . . / Actually, the last and the filthiest of the little dirty books was "FELCH"
Item #33483 Price: US$5,500.00