1942 Gremlin Americanus Eric Sloane 1st Ed WITH ORIGINAL SIGNED CARTOON USAAF For Sale

Title: Gremlin Americanus: A Scrap Book Collection of Gremlins
Author/Illustrator: Eric Sloane
Publisher: B. F. Jay & Co., New York
Publication Year: 1942 (First Edition)Published during the height of World War II, Gremlin Americanus is one of the earliest and rarest published works by the renowned American artist and author Eric Sloane. Best known today for his later works on Americana, meteorology, and early American barns, this book captures a unique moment in Sloane\'s early career when he focused heavily on aviation.

The front board displays Sloane\'s famous, iconic wartime warning phrase: \"The Gremlins will get you if you don\'t watch out!\"The book explores the legendary folklore of the \"Gremlin\"—the mythical, mischievous pixies facetiously blamed by World War II pilots and ground crews for mysterious mechanical failures, instrument glitches, and unexplainable aircraft mishaps. Rather than focusing on grim combat, Sloane uses sharp, lighthearted humor to catalog various types of gremlins, serving as a morale booster and a subtle safety reminder for servicemen.

While the book itself is a highly sought-after WWII aviation collectible, this specific copy contains two remarkable historical elements:1. Original Hand-Drawn Signed Art: Drawn directly onto the front side of the copyright page is an original, one-of-a-kind ink-and-wash cartoon hand-drawn by Eric Sloane. The illustration provides a humorous financial theme, is hand-dedicated \"To Sgt. Bereda,\" and offers Sloane\'s authentic early cursive/script signature style. This is a piece of original wartime production art, not a printed element of the book.
2. Wartime Military Provenance: A small piece of masking tape resides on the front cover, with a hand-written instructional note: \"pass around to [illegible] interest in this book.\" This inscription strongly indicates that the book served as an authentic \"unit copy\" passed around among military personnel during the war, accounting for its heavily handled condition.Online overview of the author:ERIC SLOANE (EVERARD JEAN HINRICHS) Born Everard Jean Hinrichs (1905–1985), the artist adopted the pseudonym \"Eric Sloane\" early in his career to work independently from, and yet honor his famous art teacher, John Sloan. He created the name by taking \"Eric\" from the middle of the word America and adding an \"e\" to his mentor\'s surname. Long before becoming famous for his paintings of New England landscapes and barns, Sloane was an avid pilot and one of the nation\'s foremost early aviation artists. During WWII, he was heavily involved in illustrating technical flight and weather safety manuals for the military. Later in his life, as Sloane’s artistic focus shifted toward American heritage, folklore, and meteorology, he largely distanced himself from his early commercial illustration work, including Gremlin Americanus. Because he rarely acknowledged or signed copies of this book later in his career, surviving copies—especially those with original, contemporary wartime drawings like this one—are exceptionally scarce and highly prized by antiquarian collectors.
Condition:Please review all photos and descriptions carefully before offerding. By \'s strict grading metrics, this book can\'t be listed as less than \"Acceptable.\" However, in professional antiquarian terms, it is more accurately described as a \"binding copy\", that is, a book that need rebinding but the contents of which justify the expense. The binding is heavily worn, stained, and loose. The Internal Pages have been heavily and amateurishly reinforced with tape along the gutters and hinges to keep the loose text block together. While this tape keeps the pages from separating, it is a non-professional repair that shows aging, typical of books passed around barracks. While the physical volume requires professional rebinding and careful archival restoration, the internal text block holds a unique example of Sloane\'s original art. On the blank front side of the Copyright Page is a 100% authentic, hand-drawn, original ink-and-wash cartoon signed by Eric Sloane and hand-dedicated to a Sgt Bereda. The value of the book, despite its first edition status, lies primarily in this rare wartime artwork. The book itself is in poor structural shape and serves as the original canvas for the cartoon.