Books

First edition, first printing, first issue. Criticized at the time of publication for its dark elements, Where the Wild Things Are was soon acclaimed as a triumph of children's storytelling and book design; it has remained a classic of 20th-century children's literature, and was adapted into a film in 2009. There were multiple issues of the first edition, but this copy is the earliest, distinguished by the Library of Congress number 63-21253 to the title page, the codes 40-80 and 1163 to the front flap, and the absence on the rear flap of the mention of the Caldecott Award bestowed upon the book on publication - the winning of such a prestigious prize compelled the publishers to recall the entire edition and change the text on the dust jacket to include the achievement. Oblong quarto. Original cloth-backed pictorial paper boards, front cover lettered in black. With dust jacket. Housed in a custom blue morocco-backed folding box by the Chelsea Bindery. Colour illustrations throughout by Maurice Sendak. Notably fresh, boards very slightly toned with rear corners slightly rubbed; spine of jacket slightly soiled, short closed tear to rear panel, some slight toning; a near-fine copy in a very good jacket. Hanrahan A58; Grolier Club, One Hundred Books Famous in Children's Literature, 97.

Where the Wild Things Are is a 1963 children's picture book by American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak, originally published by Harper & Row. The book has been adapted into other media several times, including an animated short in 1973 (with an updated version in 1988), a 1980 opera, and a live-action 2009 feature-film adaptation. The book tells the story of Max, a young boy who dresses up as a wolf and uses his imagination to travel to a wild forest where he meets creatures called Wild Things.