A few years ago, I heard about an exhibit of Maurice Sendak’s original artwork from one of my favorite children’s books “Where the Wild Things Are.”
The works were on display at the Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia. So, I found my way to the museum, a tidy little place tucked along one of those old city streets with homes where people actually lived, not out on a boulevard of gigantic museums. It was the former home of a co-founder of the museum, a collector and rare book dealer named A.S.W. Rosenbach, who lived there for nearly 25 years.
I loved the building before I even got inside. It was quaint, unassuming, one you could easily pass by if you weren’t looking so hard to find it. But once inside, I found it befitting the lovely illustrations from Sendak’s books. Especially ‘Wild Things,’ the one I was familiar with – the story of the naughty Max.
Being there made me appreciate the wonders of Sendak way beyond this book. I saw in his other artwork the storyteller in him. In ‘Wild Things,’ it’s the simple tale that’s not so simple, the repetitious chorus that grounds you and the “moral of the story” that is universal.
The exhibit was called “There’s a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak,” a retrospective of his work.
Sendak was on my mind because I came across a 1963 edition of ‘Wild Things’ at auction a few weeks ago. It lay there on top of a box of other children’s books, some much older, many I had not heard of before. In fact, there were several boxes of old children books at the auction. Interestingly, most of the ones in the box I bought had a religious theme. Another bidder wanted the stash just as much as me: We pushed the bid up to $20 – much too much for a box of books.
I believe my copy of ‘Wild Things’ is a first-edition because the book was originally published in 1963 by Harper & Row. The book is missing its all-important dust jacket, though.
This one apparently had been given as a gift because there was an inscription in ink (unfortunately, it was not from Sendak himself): “For one special friend Gabriel. Christmas 1980.”
Except for the inscription, the book was in very good condition, with no other marks, no missing or torn pages, no dirty or smudgy fingerprints, no raw corners. It looked as if it had been stored away.
I decided to check out first editions of the book on the web, and found many on the websites of several booksellers. The most expensive had dust jackets, were autographed by Sendak, and were selling in the hundreds and thousands of dollars (I came across one for $35,000).
One like mine was being offered for $200 to $350 on eBay, but there were no takers. One sold for $20 (it had some yellowing, discoloration and torn edges). Which is fine, because I’m adding the book to my collection of illustrated children’s books alongside my Jerry Pinkneys, N.C. Wyeths and others.
Whenever I get a yearning to immerse myself in Sendak again, though, I can always mosey on over to the Rosenbach, which seems to have just about everything relating to the artist/writer. According to its website, it has 10,000 original drawings, early sketches, manuscripts, photos and rare prints of his books dating from the 1940s to the early part of this century. Some of his artwork is on display in the Maurice Sendak Gallery at the museum.
Sendak’s relationship with the museum apparently goes back to the mid-1960s when he used to visit it and Rosenbach.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1928, Sendak loved sitting around listening to his father and older brother tell stories, according to the Rosenbach website. His father, a tailor, gave him shirt cardboard on which the young boy illustrated his first stories. Largely self-taught, Sendak has illustrated more than 100 picture books. He has won numerous awards, including the Caldecott Award, the Newberry Medal and the National Book Award. ‘Wild Things’ was made into a movie last year.
By the way, the book is also President Obama’s favorite.
