Page 17 - Swann Galleries - 20th Century Illustration - Sale 2300 - January 24, 2013

FIRST EDITION INTHE DJ AND INSCRIBEDWITH A DRAWING
12 ● MAURICE SENDAK. Where the Wild Things Are. Color illustrations by
Sendak. Oblong 8vo, green cloth-backed pictorial boards, very slight toning along edges;
pictorial endpapers, bottom final binding thread loose at hinge; first issue dust jacket, lower
outer margin clipped; custom blue leather and cloth clamshell case gilt-lettered along spine.
(NewYork): Harper & Row, 1963 [10,000/15,000]
RARE FIRST EDITION OF SENDAK’S MOST BELOVED BOOK, INSCRIBED AND SIGNEDTO ORENSTEIN
ON THE HALF-TITLE WITH A DRAWING OF ONE OF THE CREATURES in blue ink, with a voice line
saying “Dear Reed -This certainly looks like a first Edition - it has all the wrong colors in the right places!”
Sendak’s inscription and signature sit beneath it, surrounding the printed half-title, in black ink. Sendak was
referring to the ink colors which, in the first printings, were off register; they were corrected in subsequent
printings. In the scarce original dust jacket with no Caldecott award medal sticker nor mention of it, with the
proper text on the jacket flaps, as described by Joyce Hanrahan: “...a three paragraph blurb on the book, and
at the bottom, ‘Harper & Row, Publishers/ 40-80/ 1163.’ The first paragraph is 6 lines long and reads,
‘Maurice Sendak author-artist of the NUTSHELL LIBRARY... has written and illustrated a picture book
little children will love.’ The second, also 6 lines, reads ‘Max, sent to his room... his adventures... form a
unique an unforgettable experience.’ The third, only five lines, reads, ‘Every child will recognized Max’s
feelings and his fantasy.And they, as well as adults, will revel in the rich, glorious pictures painted only as
Sendak could paint them.’The inside rear flap of the dust jacket has a three paragraph blurb on Sendak.The
first one, six lines long, begins and ends, ‘Maurice Sendak is considered to be one of the finest... andTHE
SIGN ON ROSIE’S DOOR.’The second paragraph, 8 lines long, begins and ends, ‘Among the books
he has illustrated... Hans Christian Andersen awards.’ The third paragraph reads ‘Maurice Sendak was
born and grew up on Brooklyn, NewYork. He now lives in GreenwichVillage.’” Hanrahan A58.