1974 Ezra Jack Keats Collection
GUEST: In, um, 1974, I was a young teacher teaching in North Carolina. Our school librarian has asked Mr. Keats to come, and my class made the banner that went outside the school.
APPRAISER: Which is this, this... banner right here?
GUEST: Which is the banner in the picture. Right, here I am holding up the banner, and, uh, Mr. Keats is sitting in the rocking chair right in the middle of my children. All the classes got to go to the library and meet him. He was such an enchanting man, had a twinkle in his eye. He loved the banner very much. He took it back to New York and put it in his studio. Of course, he autographed my book and-- which is treasure to me. And also, at Christmastime in 1974, he wrote a thank you note, and it's on his letterhead. It says, "Merry Christmas to Mrs. Hudson and children. From your friend, Ezra Jack Keats. 1974." And it says, "The 'Keats is coming' banner is a beaut." And on his drawing to me, he drew Willie-- Willie the dog. And that is from the book, "Whistle for Willie."
APPRAISER: He was-- grew up in a very poor family. When he graduated high school, his father died. He had wanted to go to art school. He had won awards...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...in high school for art. And then, he thought he'd be a professional artist.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: That didn't work out. But then, he got into art through the WPA in some commercial artwork. And he finally got to art school and did some work in Paris and came back and started doing some illustration work. And there was one person at a publishing company said, "You should do some children's books." He loved it. And then, he got the idea to write his own children's books and illustrate 'em, which really then, his career just took off. Let me show the inscription to you on the The Snowy Day, which is one of his more famous books.
GUEST: "To Susan Hudson. "It's good meeting you. Thanks for the banner. Ezra Jack Keats."
APPRAISER: One of the things that really makes Keats stand out is that he was an illustrator who had African American children as the subject.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: Uh, I'll just show one picture to give an idea. He used a lot of groups who were not necessarily used in the common day illustration for children. And that's actually one of the things that makes his works very sought after. This copy of The Snowy Day is not a first edition. I would say this, retail, $300 to $500.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: If you had a first edition of this book...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...signed, inscribed the way you do, you might be talking $7,000 to $10,000 with the dust jacket. Willie there with the beautiful inscription probably the $3,000 to $5,000 retail.
GUEST: That's exciting. (laughs) I had no idea it'd be like that.
APPRAISER: He is so popular that they've been going up steadily.
GUEST: It was a highlight of my career, really.
$3,300 - $5,500 Retail
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Understanding Our Appraisals
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