61. (Frazetta) assorted pencils and sketchbook including an early “For sale” list and watercolor page. (1970s) An incomplete sketchbook filled with assorted leftovers and a series of loose pencil warm-ups for a King Kong oil. It also has a very early list of oils and prices given to Russ Cochran for sale. A very interesting piece of history. It contains assorted original art pieces with extra signatures. Note in the cowboy panel how Frank was breaking-in a pen with china white ink. He wanted to see how that ink would look against a black background. The signatures are trimmings or experiments where Frank was trying out various pens. This lot includes many old clippings and odd trimmings that I rescued from the trashcan. The signatures certainly have value and are of tremendous visual interest. There is another empty sketchbook with pieces of sketch paper and a sheet of practice signatures. Frank was attempting to loosen up his hand after it cramped while shooting a .45 in the backyard. Over the years I have collected a number of Frazetta items that he wanted to throw in the trash. I asked for them and Frank graciously gave them to me and signed or initialed them. He thought I was crazy. I thought I was rescuing little bits of Frazetta history. There are stories about each item that I will leave for another time. What a real loss to art history that Frazetta’s sketchbooks were not photographed and preserved. I cannot express to you what a sheer joy it was to sit down with a pile of Frank’s sketchbooks and peruse them carefully. At this point all of them have been cut up and disassembled and strewn into collections all over the world. It would be an impossible task to reassemble them in their original integrity. For decades I pleaded, I argued, I complained, and I even tried to reason logically with Frank and Ellie about the nature and significance of these sketchbooks. They never listened. They never saw the significance. For Ellie they were just a source of quick cash. For Frank it was just jotting down ideas for projects. There were very few sketch pages that Frank was passionate about. He did remove Sheba and The Executioner from the 1954 sketchbook and framed the images for his enjoyment. His favorite rough/study was the study for the Master of Adventure cover, but he sold that too. Frank mentions it in the interview with Russ Cochran in the Edgar Rice Burroughs Library of Illustration 3 volume. The sketch sheet contains Frank’s favorite rough description written on the original. It’s never been published until this catalog. Ellie started selling these roughs way back in the 1960s when the first wave of book-butchering took place. Oh well...A note about the cursive signatures: After his first two strokes, Frank’s professional signature was never the same. It was a supreme effort for him to even attempt it. The results were stiff, labored, crooked, and unnatural. He tried it using both hands. Both hands failed. After the strokes he abandoned pure ink drawings and relied on pencil. I noticed during the times I would take Frank to the hospital for blood tests that he would sign the forms with his right hand cursively. The extra papers contained in this lot have examples of Frank signing his name cursively with his right hand after the strokes. He was practicing before signing some Ultimate Triumph books for me. Notice how he achieves a much smoother result. I had Frank sign later books exclusively with this cursive signature. It simply looked better. I never attempted to have Frank sign with his pro signature. It was simply too painful to watch him attempt it and I know he was embarrassed by it. The evolution of Frank’s signature and its many phases is worthy of a big essay by itself. 
$400 - $600

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by Profiles in History
December 11, 2015 11:00 AM PST
26662 Agoura Rd
Calabasas, CA, US 91302

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $249,999 $10,000
$250,000 + $25,000