Lot 962: 1958 Willard Mullin Original Art Self Portrait

Willard Mullin (1902-1978), an institution of the sports pages and magazines of America, decided after 35 years in the business to recount his life in book form. The book was published in 1958 by A. S. Barnes & Co. of New York and was entitled A Hand in Sport (subtitled 35 Years with the Light Touch - Being the Life and Lines of Willard Mullin, as told to Dave Camerer). Presented is an ad illustration by Mullin that includes a self-portrait of the artist at his drawing board. Sports figures are pictured as dripping off his ink brush, falling into the pages of his new book. The ink and Wolf's crayon illustration on board has been treated to a quality double-matting and framing for presentation (21-7/8" x 25-1/2" overall dimensions), including an adjacent window that seems to be holding a nice dust-jacketed copy of the publication. (Since the frame is sealed we cannot really be sure that anything other than the jacket is here, but the otherwise unnecessary depth of the frame's construction hints that the book is indeed completely present.) The exposed area of the signed artwork (10-3/4" x 15-7/8") appears to be flawlessly preserved, except for a 1"-wide vertical band of very pale aging along its right side. The visible area of the book's jacket (6-5/8" x 9-5/8") appears to be in EX/MT condition. A lengthy newspaper obituary notice for Mullin has been pasted to the presentation's sealing paper on the reverse. Please Note: The overall dimensions of the frame as well as visible dimensions of the two art elements have been added to this description. Additional Note: To clarify: the entire A Hand in Sport book -- a First Edition copy -- is held under glass in this framed display.