The Juniper Tree And Other Tales
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973. Illustrated by Maurice Sendak. First Edition. Cloth. Near Fine / Near Fine. Item #5248
A handsome two-volume First Edition in original slipcase, Volume I signed by Maurice Sendak on the half-title page, "Maurice Sendak, Jan. 1974." Each of the two volumes is in the original dustjacket. Each is in fine condition with light touches of wear and light sunning to the spines of the book and dustjacket; otherwise in fine condition with clean and bright interiors. The original slipcase has a large printed pictorial label and is in solid condition but with touches of wear and fading at the open edges. A lovely set and a special signature from one of our favorite authors and illustrators.
Alison Lurie, of the New York Times, provided a fantastic review of this edition on November 4th, 1973, commenting on Sendak's illustrations: "Most of the 27 tales which Lore Segal and Maurice Sendak have chosen are not in the standard collections for children. They have included a few old favorites, but more are missing; and the stories which replace them are among the strangest, most grotesque, mysterious and haunting in Grimm. Some are not “fairy tales” at all, but half‐comic, half‐frightening realistic stories of violence, deception and folly; and by no means all have happy endings...Like all Maurice Sendak's work, they are superb. But they come from a darker and stranger side of his genius than the pictures in “The Night Kitchen” or “Where the Wild Things Are.” They are visions of another and in some ways realer world than this, a dream—or nightmare—world certainly, but one in which the dream gardens contain actual toads, complete to the last wart. They have beauty too, but it is a beauty which sometimes merges into the terrifying: skeletons appear, corpses, hooded ghosts and a devil which makes the Wild Things look like stuffed toys."
A lovely edition, with story choices and illustrations perfectly suited for the devoted Maurice Sendak collector.
Price: $625.00 other currencies