73. Sendak, Maurice (1928 – 2012).
Collection / Archive of two very rich and personal, handwritten & signed letters on cards by Sendak, plus a rare, multi-folded, advertising-leporello of Maurice Sendak’s publications, together with a wonderful collection of fourteen (14) loose gicleé prints of original drawings by Maurice Sendak in colour or black and white: ‘A Kiss for Little Bear’ x 2 (26.5 cm x 34.5 cm) / ‘Zlateh the Goat’ x 2 (24 cm x 30 cm and 37.5 cm x 30 cm) / ‘Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present’ x 1 (33.4 cm x 41.5 cm) / Lullabies and Night Songs’ x 2 (35 cm x 26.5 cm and 44.5 cm x 33.5 cm) / ‘Hector Protector’ x 1 (46 cm x 26 cm) / ‘In the Night Kitchen’ x 4 (50 cm x 36 cm) / Higglety Pigglety Pop x 2 (28 cm x 35.5 cm). The two cards are addressed to “Minnie” [that is “Minnie Kate”] and were written at Christmas 1986 and Christmas 1987. According to a colleague in the trade, who helped us to identify the recipient “Minnie”, Minnie Kate, together with her mother, maintained a long friendship with Maurice Sendak by sending him colored stones or rocks that they sourced from local beaches in the northwest of the United States (Washington Statel). Most of Maurice Sendak’s correspondence with Minnie Kate and her mother, is preserved at the Rosenbach Museum & Library, Philadelphia. Both cards are similar in content. One of the cards featuring Sendak’s art from the cover of Nutcracker and addressed to Minnie, reading in part “I worked all year on a picture-book – a Grimm tale (my first book in 8 years !!). I am in love with it and it gets published next year….my wild things celebrate their 25th anniversary. I hope i enjoy it all. Am hoping for a quiet year ahead illustrating a Grimm tale and staying put – I am tired of travelling and theatre projects. And look forward to creeping back into my old role as book illustrator” / “The rocks arrived while I was away working in England. They are wonderful, of course, and very much appreciated. Thank you again and again. My animals. I have but one. My darling Golden Retriever, Io, had to be put to sleep 2 weeks ago. She was 15 1/2 and I held her and stayed with her to the end. It is so sad, naturally, but the memory fills me with a kind of joy. I have a 3 1/2 year old German Shepherd named Runge after a German painter (19th century). It was anything but a lazy year – too full! This coming year will be lazy-ish”.
Letters: 4 pages on two cards / Gicleé prints: 15 sheets (unsigned). [New York], 1986 – 1987. Very good condition.
