Signed book: Norman Rockwell: My Adventures as an Illustrator. First edition. NY: Doubleday, 1960. Hardcover with dust jacket, 6.5 x 9.5, 436 pages. Signed and inscribed on the half-title page in fountain pen, "My best to Peter Whalen, brother of my all time favorite model, cordially, Norman Rockwell." In fine condition.
The daughter of Rockwell's lawyer, young Mary Whalen appeared in three Rockwell paintings that served as iconic front covers for the Saturday Evening Post: Outside the Principal’s Office (May 23, 1953), Day in the Life of a Girl (August 30, 1952), and Girl at the Mirror (March 6, 1954). According to Whalen, she never knew why Rockwell called her his favorite model, but he had quickly become one of her favorite people. 'I kept in touch with him until he died. He always sent me a little note at Christmas time and told me he missed me.'
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