Only months after Mad was launched in the fall of 1952, Mercury Press announced in F&SF (February 1953) their humor magazine, The Book of Wit & Humor, edited by Louis Untermeyer (1885-1977). Untermeyer wrote or edited almost 100 books, including a number of humor anthologies.
The managing editor was Charles Angoff (1902-1979), the author-editor long associated with The American Mercury. With a logo design by Mercury's art director George Salter (1897-1967), it had the look of the other digest-size Mercury Publications, but why didn't they title it The Magazine of Wit & Humor? Then it could have been taken as a sister magazine to F&SF. I believe it had only a single issue. Does anyone have a copy?
The front cover cartoon is a reprint from Saul Steinberg's The Art of Living (Harper, 1949).
Charles Angoff
George Salter
Saul Steinberg
Louis Untermeyer was a regular panelist in the early years
of What's My Line? Here he is in the October 15, 1950
episode with mystery guest Gloria Swanson.
Another Steinberg drawing from The Art of Living
Look up Louis Untermeyer's book on World Poetry - it's the best anthology I've seen, although the poems have been translated into English verse, it's well worth tracking down.
ReplyDeleteA copy is available at AbeBooks
ReplyDeletewww.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&tn=%22Book+of+Wit+%26+Humor%22&x=57&y=14
WorldCat lists two library copies of the Book of Wit & Humor.
www.worldcat.org/title/book-of-wit-humor/oclc/57937169
A Google Book search says the ad appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.
Yes, the cover is a reprint of a cartoon on the last page of Steinberg's The Art of Living.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, thanks for confirmation of my guess.
ReplyDeleteAlex, the AbeBooks title seems to be a different book. I found the ad in F&SF. Didn't know it was also in EQMM.