On the November shipping list is Charles M. Schulz: The Art and Life of the Peanuts Creator in 100 Objects, a slick hardcover being released as part of the recognition of Schulz’s centennial. The is the first project of The Charles M. Schulz Museum to be done for general distribution, and (if I’ve set up the timing of this post correctly), it is being announced at the San Diego Comic-Con even as this post is appearing on the website. Now, there were signs of this book’s existence if you knew where to look for months now, but I couldn’t announce it, because I’m an insider on this one. That’s right, I co-wrote this book with Benjamin L. Clark, the curator of the Schulz Museum.

But this was not a two-person project. Far from it. The Schulz family, other members of the museum staff, and people from Creative Associates all had a hand in shaping it. And  there are contributions to the book, little tales of Schulz and his impact, from family members, people he worked with, fellow cartoonists, and celebrities who knew the man. The book is built around 100 two-page spreads (ignore the Amazon listing saying it’s 192 pages; it’s 224), each of which focuses on one object — but there are also asides, sidebars, and images of other things. The Museum’s archive’s have been dived deeply through, so you’ll see lots of original art, and things that have not been seen in a Peanuts book before, making this a graphically rich tome. The foreword is a conversation about Peanuts with filmmaker Wes Anderson.

It is, of course, available for preorder.

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