The Stag at Eve: A 1931 Collection of Risqué Cartoons by a Roster of Artists associated with The New Yorker.

In 1931, there were things even The New Yorker wouldn’t print. Some of them found a home here. Published by Farrar & Rinehart, The Stag at Eve brought together a distinguished company of cartoonists indulging their less restrained instincts. Contributors include William Steig, Otto Soglow, Gardner Rea, Barbara Shermund, and other masters of the well-placed line and raised eyebrow. Their subject was human behavior – particularly the sort that polite company preferred to discuss after polite company had left.

The result is a mischievous souvenir of sophisticated New York between the wars, when a suggestive drawing could provoke a blush, a laugh, or an official objection. Its reputation traveled overseas, where a British publisher removed some of the more provocative cartoons. According to a contemporary report in The New Yorker, a copy of that edited edition was then mailed back to America, and stopped by U.S. Customs as obscene. Apparently, even the cleaned-up version needed cleaning up.

The book had admirers in unexpected places. Contributor I. Klein later recalled Walt Disney mentioning that he had seen Klein’s cartoons in its pages. “Naughty, naughty,” Disney teased, with a wink. A 1935 Harvard Crimson review remembered the book as a sensation that inspired inferior imitations. 

In November 1932, The New Yorker reported that a British publisher removed some of the more provocative drawings for an English edition. When a copy of that cleaned-up version was mailed back to the American publishers, U.S. Customs banned its entry as obscene. 

Today, its appeal lies in the company it keeps: accomplished artists, period wit, and a cheerful willingness to test the boundaries of respectability. An entertaining addition to a collector’s library, a conversation piece beside the cocktail tray, or a gift for someone whose sense of humor has never required official approval.

Original 1931 printing by Farrar & Rinehart, New York.  Previously Owned.