Books

First edition, first printing, first issue, presentation copy, inscribed by the artist on the half-title, "Dec '63, For Hilary Knight. Maurice Sendak", with a drawing of Max in his wolf suit. This copy also features Hilary Knight's bookplate, citing the artist's New York address, on the recto of the front free endpaper, and his pictorial signed bookplate on the front pastedown. 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. A children's opera adaptation by Oliver Knussen was created in the 1980s, and a film directed by Spike Jonze was released 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 unsold copies or, at least, issue new jackets. As usual, the front flap is clipped in the lower corner, but the price of $3.50 is intact printed in the top corner. The bibliography of Sendak notes that "the book came out in late November and is mentioned briefly in the December 15th issue of The Library Journal with no other listing in the periodical. First edition, first printing, first issue, presentation copy, inscribed by the artist on the half-title, "Dec '63, For Hilary Knight. Maurice Sendak", with a drawing of Max in his wolf suit. This copy also features Hilary Knight's bookplate, citing the artist's New York address, on the recto of the front free endpaper, and his pictorial signed bookplate on the front pastedown. 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. A children's opera adaptation by Oliver Knussen was created in the 1980s, and a film directed by Spike Jonze was released 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 unsold copies or, at least, issue new jackets. As usual, the front flap is clipped in the lower corner, but the price of $3.50 is intact printed in the top corner. The bibliography of Sendak notes that "the book came out in late November and is mentioned briefly in the December 15th issue of The Library Journal with no other listing in the periodical indexes until February when an article appeared in Publisher's Weekly". This is, therefore, an exceptionally early presentation copy. Hilary Knight (b. 1926) was, in the 1950s and early 1960s, the star of children's book illustrators. Kay Thompson's Eloise was first published in 1955, with illustrations by Knight, and three sequels followed: Eloise in Paris (1957), Eloise at Christmastime (1958) and Eloise in Moscow (1959). Sendak's inscription is an acknowledgement of Knight's prominence, and a touching tribute from Sendak, the artist later "widely considered the most important children's book artist of the twentieth century" (The New York Times). READ MORE. Oblong quarto. Original olive green cloth-backed pictorial paper boards, front cover lettered in black. With dust jacket. Colour illustrations throughout by Maurice Sendak. Extremities very slightly worn, some very light toning; extremities of jacket a little worn with some minor loss, front flap clipped but with price present, rear fold between rear panel and spine of jacket splitting, pencil "C12" annotation to rear panel: a near-fine copy in a very good jacket. Hanrahan A58; Grolier Children's 100, 97. The New York Times, 9 May 2012.

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.