Page 116 - Swann Galleries - Modernist Posters - Sale 2314 - May 13, 2013

RICHARD FELTON OUTCAULT (1863-1928)
136 ● THE NEW YORK SUNDAY JOURNAL. 1897.
15x20 inches, 28x503/4 cm. H.A. Thomas & Wylie, Lith. Co., New York.
Condition B / B-: tears, losses and staining at edges, some affecting image; creases and abrasions in margins
and image; vertical fold. Paper.
The Yellow Kid was one of the earliest, and certainly the most popular of all early American comic
characters. At its heart was social commentary about New York, presented in a humorous and irreverent
manner. The New York World newspaper, owned by Joseph Pulitzer, was among the first to print in
color and to run comics, and on May 5th, 1895, Outcault ran the first strip featuring The Yellow Kid,
called “Hogan’s Alley.” Such was the success of his character with the public that one year later William
Randolph Hearst poached Outcault to come work for his newspaper, The New York Journal. Here,
The Yellow Kid is out for a sleigh ride of sorts through Madison Square Park - the second Madison
Square Garden, with Augustus Saint Gaudens’ Statue of Diana visible rising above the trees in the
background. The issue being advertised is Sunday, January 31, 1897, which featured a “Hogan’s Alley”
comic entitled “Mickey and His Friends Hobnob with Royalty” (Mickey Dugan was The Yellow Kid’s
real name). RARE [1,200/1,800]