Potrzebie
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Forgotten humor magazine
.
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).
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.
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
Labels: angoff, f and sf, gloria swanson, salter, spivak, steinberg, untermeyer
¶ 11:58 AM 4 comments
