Oh Skin-Nay!: The Days of Real Sport - Hardcover

Nesbit, Wilbur D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1894937929 ISBN 13: 9781894937924

Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly, 2007

Synopsis

Poetry Verses by Wilbur D. Nesbit
Afterword by Comics Historian Jeet Heer

A grittier and less sentimental predecessor to Norman Rockwell, Clare Briggs exemplified the larger journey of American society from small-town innocence to urbane sophistication. The son of a farm machinery salesman, Briggs left his rural home as a young man to forge a career as an illustrator and cartoonist, earning success in such big-city papers as The Chicago Examiner, the Chicago Tribune, and the New York Tribune. Within a few years, he became one of the most popular and imitated cartoonists in America: Frank King, Milton Caniff, and the first generation of New Yorker cartoonists all emulated Briggs. Eschewing the roughneck humor of early comic strips, Briggs drew low-key strips in two modes: nostalgic reveries focused on memories of small-town boyhood and satirical strips about the squabbles inherent in married life.

First published in 1913 by P. F. Volland and Company of Chicago, Oh Skin-Nay! is a collaboration between Briggs and poet Wilbur D. Nesbit and portrays a year in the life of small-town America through the eyes of the twelve-year-old boy―wood gathering, sleigh rides, games of post office, swimming holes, and sandlot ball games.

This book is presented as a facsimile edition of double-page spreads containing short poems and full-page cartoons as well as an expanded afterword on Briggs by comics historian Jeet Heer.

About this title

About the Author

Born in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, in 1875, Clare Briggs died of pneumonia in 1930, after struggling with a nervous disorder that was destroying his optic nerve and ability to draw.

From Publishers Weekly

Briggs is a masterful, if mostly forgotten, early 20th century cartoonist who is related to the Midwestern sentimentality of, say, Gasoline Alley's Frank King and the great illustrator Norman Rockwell. His work was nostalgic even for his contemporary audience, and his beautiful, quavering line always delineated an optimistic, fun and happy America. This book, a facsimile edition of a 1913 collaborative volume with the poet Wilbur D. Nesbit, captures life in small town America as viewed by a 12-year-old boy. Big, full page drawings sit across the pages from elegant verse, all in service to the idea of an ideal, eternal summer of the mind. Jeet Heer provides an informative essay, describing Briggs' life and times, and, as ever, the book itself is an exquisite object. Most of all, it serves as a reminder of a lighter time; those frustrated with the current American moment will find this a pleasant diversion.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1894937929
• ISBN 13: 9781894937924
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 136
• Illustrator: Briggs Clare