Series II. Cartoons/Collages, 1964, 1970-2008, undated, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Contents
This series contains over 40 years of files related to Kupferberg's cartoons and collages including drafts, original artworks, photocopies of artworks, notes, and source material. Although he began drawing in the 1950s, the majority of the material in this series dates from the 1970s through the 2000s. Most artworks include captions with witty puns, which evolved into Kupferberg's signature style: a combination of captions, line drawings, collage elements (text and images taken from books and newsprint), and song lyrics. These artworks can be found throughout Kupferberg and Sylvia Topp's Birth Press publications, but were also published in smaller, New York City-based as well as national publications. Most of the artworks in this series are politically-themed, including humorous commentary on war; religion; US Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and Bill Clinton; the Vietnam War; the Iraq War; Judaism; and Nazism. Sex and sports are also recurring themes in works within this series. Notated files related to his publication Old Fucks at Home and his lifelong unpublished project, Book of Perverbs can also be found in this series.
Arrangement
The first group of files in this series have been left in their original order, followed by those which were re-arranged previously by an adjunct into a succession of alphabetical runs, and the arrangement ends with files pulled from other sections of the collection and placed in this series.
Processing Information
The processing archivist kept material in original order if it was known to be intact, to illustrate Kupferberg's filing system and thought process. None of the files were placed in chronological or alphabetical order, but left as they were found. Original folder titles assigned by Kupferberg were kept when possible. Kupferberg assigned the folder titles, which were often sections of text found within the work and not an official title of the piece. Additionally, some files were grouped by Kupferberg under subject headings, which were notated and added to folder titles when possible. Multiple, duplicate copies of the same work with different titles were scattered throughout this series. If a title was difficult to read or abbreviated incomprehensibly, the title was transcribed and placed in brackets on the folder, usually below the original. If the original folder was in usable condition, it was kept, otherwise material was refoldered in legal-sized acid-free folders. Unusable folders with distinguishing marks on the exterior were kept along with their contents and placed in acid-free folders. Source material within folders varied widely in date, some as early as the 1800s, however the files were notated only with the work's actual execution/submission to publications date/s.