INSCRIBED ORIGINAL DIGITAL PRINT OF THE CARICATURE USED FOR THE COVER OF "THE BIG READ.

2008. First edition. DIGITAL ART CARICATURE. The Jeffers caricature by artist John Sherffius used on the covers of the "Big Read" teacher's and reader's guides published in 2008 by the National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C. The digital print is 8.5 x 11" with image of a smiling Jeffers perched, ocean-side, atop granite boulders; he's writing on a tablet with Hawk Tower and Tor House behind him. Presentation copy of the "original" illustration produced by the artist at the request of Jeffers' collector Allen Mears' INSCRIBED, "To Allen. / You meet the nicest / people in this business! / Best wishes. / John Sherffius / 11/18/08." According to Sherffius in emails between the two men, the illustration was partially created on a computer; so there is no one copy that can be considered the original. "The Big Read" -- a nationwide event celebrating authors and their works -- was first held in 2006. In 2007, the NEA partnered with the Poetry Foundation to create a new component of "The Big Read" called "American Literary Landmarks," celebrating American poets and historic poetry sites. The first three landmarks celebrated were Robinson Jeffers' Tor House, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Wayside Inn, and the Emily Dickinson Museum. Includes Mears' email correspondence with Sherffius and a copy of the Jeffers "Big Read" from the Carmel area, where it was co-sponsored by the Tor House Foundation.