LOT RR Auction  /  RR Auction Quality Autograph Auction 365  / 

575

Dick Calkins

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:200.00 - 400.00 USD
Dick Calkins

Bidding Over

The auction is over for this lot.
The auctioneer wasn't accepting online bids for this lot.

Contact the auctioneer for information on the auction results.

Search for other lots to bid on...
Auction Date:2011 Jan 12 @ 16:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Artist (1895–1962), best known as the first person to draw the Buck Rogers comic strip, beginning in 1929. Fabulous hand-illustrated TLS, three pages both sides, 8.5 x 11, March 27, 1947. Uniquely presented correspondence to Elmer Staffs of Tucson as Calkins describes a trip to Phoenix and Tucson during the 1930s, illustrating his story along the way. Cartoons include those of a barber scalping his customer, covered wagons, and old cowpokes. In part (grammar and spelling retained): “Yure letter was brought in to the post this morning by a half-bred with five arrers sticking into him. He must of had a tough time gettin thru the dude ranch country, ans I here them dudes are on the warpath again. But he made it, and I was sure glad to get the letter. The mail up here is some irregular of late on account of the whizzer that blew up a few days ago, and that white stuff is all over the ground again. This country ain’t fit for an injun to live in, let alone a white man. I ben here for fiftytwo years and have reached that conclusion…Steve Claflin told me about you, and I was going to write you, but you got off the first shot before I could pull my typewriter out of the holster. I gotta fild the front sight off that typewriter some day or quite wearin’ it…Don’t let this Buck Rogers business fool you. About all I get is a lot of publicity, while the syndicate gets the gravy. I am going to pack up the covered wagon and head for the wide-open spaces were I don’t have to wear a white shirt except maybe on Sundays…There’s some nic country between Willxo and Safford, on that road that runs from Bonita to Safford, where you cross a stream. Unfortunately, there isn’t any house there, and we can’t live in a tree (although from this letter you probably think that’s where I generally hang out).” He has added the handwritten postscript, “You can blame Clafins for this letter!” According to the consignor, the pages have been deacified by a conservator. In fine condition, with staple holes and an area of paper loss at the upper left corner, a few spots of staining, and show-through from type and drawings on opposing sides.

Though perhaps best-remembered for bringing the swashbuckling adventures of Buck Rogers to life in comic strips and, in the process, popularizing space exploration in literature and pulp fiction, Calkins also had a quick wit—a talent on display in this letter. Recounting an Old West tale, Calkins takes on the persona reminiscent of a grizzled prospector to assure the recipient that “yure letter was brought in to the post this morning by a half-bred with five arrers sticking into him” while lamenting that the life of a cartoonist is not particularly a wealthy one: “Don’t let this Buck Rogers business foll you. About all I get is a lot of publicity, while the syndicate gets the gravy.” All of this seasoned with Calkins’ unique illustrations. A brilliantly created, one-of-a-kind piece.
Sign In to Bookmark Lot