I acquired the original art to my first I Am Legend cover in 1995. I had the opportunity to purchase one of the early Corgi UK paintings a few years later, and deeply regret not taking advantage of it. After I discovered that I had missed out on the Stanley Meltzoff painting auction, I created a want list on the Heritage auction site, should any other original I Am Legend covers come up for sale. And much to my surprise, in 2017, one did!
In 1979, artist Murray Tinkelman (1933-2016) created a series of eight Matheson covers for Berkley books, including I Am Legend. Tinkelman had an interesting, cross-hatch style, which had famously been used on many genre paperbacks including a series of H.P. Lovecraft collections.
Determined to acquire my second original I Am Legend cover, I calculated just how much I could bid, when factoring in the not-insignificant 25% buyer's premium and shipping costs. There were actually three of Tinkelman's Matheson covers in the auction, including The Shores of Space and A Stir of Echoes. I didn't expect either of those to have the same demand as Legend, but since Legend was the second of the three lots, I knew I'd at least have an idea going in if I had a shot at it. If someone were to bid more on The Shores of Space than I was prepared to pay for Legend, it would have been pretty clear I would be coming away empty-handed. So when Shores sold for a mere $550 (before BP), I at least knew I had a chance. (And while I wouldn't have minded having three Tinkelman Matheson's at that price, I couldn't risk expending any of my limited budget on a 'nice-to-have' piece until I had secured my 'must-have' piece.
Before the auction had started, I had already placed my high bid. For the first few seconds, it looked like it might top out at a similar price as Shores. But my thoughts of winning the auction at a fraction of my budget were short-lived, as the price slowly crept up, going back and forth between my proxy bid and another bidder. I resigned myself to the possibility that it was going to go to someone with deeper pockets than I, and tried to appreciate that I had at least maintained the high bid for a while. And then an amazing thing happened. The increases stopped. And frankly, they stopped when I was still 25% shy of my limit. When the auctioneer declared my bid the winning bid, I was ecstatic.
Even though I won the Legend piece for less than I was prepared to pay, I decided not to bid on the Stir of Echoes cover (which also sold for $550 before BP). I figured it was best to let that go to someone else, and be thankful I won the piece I was most interested in.
As is often the case, the printed reproduction doesn't do the original art justice. You can see how big the original is compared to the paperback below.
Tinkelman's signature and date were either scrubbed from the art on the book cover, which is not uncommon, or added after Berkley had returned it.
It's worth noting that just two years later, in 2019, Tinkelman's Shores of Space painting sold at auction for $2100 (before BP). I think it's safe to assume the Legend painting has appreciated in value at least as much (nearly 4x) if not more than what I paid for it. Of course, I have no plans of ever selling it.
Be sure to check back next week for another item from the I Am Legend Archive!
