New York is Book Country Poster (10th Anniversary).
Price: $1,750.00
Color Lithograph. 1988. 1st Edition. Fine.
1988. 18" x 23.5" poster in a 20" x 25" frame. Illustrated by Sendak. Signed by Sendak on lower right of poster. Color illustration of a Wild Thing in New York, reading a book and leaning between Book Row establishments (Argosy, George's Abbey, Greg's Circulating Library, and others) with a "Tenth Anniversary" ribbon in his mouth, designed by Cynthia Krupat, in a black frame. Fine. Overall, a splendid example. This poster, featuring original artwork by Maurice Sendak, commemorates the 10th anniversary of New York is Book Country (NYIBC), and the 25th anniversary of Sendak's classic children's book Where the Wild Things Are (1963). NYIBC was a 5-day book fair held annually in Manhattan from 1979 to 2010 (with a pause from 2005 to 2007). This poster was issued on September 18, 1988 to raise funds for the Child Services section of the New York Public Library. Each year one or more posters were created for the book fair, with original artwork by top children's book artists, like Stan and Jan Berenstain, Charles Schulz, Edward Gorey, and Richard Scarry. Maurice Sendak, arguably the most important children's book writer and illustrator of the 20th century, is recognized as someone "who wrenched the picture book out of the safe, sanitized world of the nursery and plunged it into the dark, terrifying and hauntingly beautiful recesses of the human psyche" (The New York Times). He is best known for his thematically linked trilogy, In the Night Kitchen, Where the Wild Things Are, and Outside Over There. Sendak received a number of major awards in his career, including the Caldecott Medal, National Book Award, and National Medal of Arts. Item #MSK010
