Bidspirit auction | Whitman Big Little Books: Tarzan,

Whitman Big Little Books: Tarzan, Tracy - A collection of two vintage pulp-era illustrated books published by Whitman Publishing Co. of Racine, Wisconsin. The first volume is Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs, identified on the pictorial softcover as THE BIG LITTLE CARTOON BOOK. This volume, identified in series bibliography as number 744, features a full-color illustration on the front cover signed Bennett in the lower right corner. The interior contains black and white illustrations alternating with pages of text, including a depiction of Lady Greystoke and her husband on page 21. The second volume is titled Dick Tracy Solves the Penfield Mystery by Chester Gould, part of THE BIG LITTLE BOOK series and numbered 1137 on the spine. It is bound in pictorial hard boards featuring a profile portrait of Dick Tracy against a yellow and orange burst background. The title page bears the imprint WHITMAN PUBLISHING CO RACINE, WISCONSIN and a copyright date of 1934. Both books are characteristic of the thick, small-format popular literature produced during the Great Depression.