A much-loved children’s book, discovered in a routine valuation visit, is set to sell for thousands of pounds when it comes up for auction next week.
Where the Wild Things Are was written by American author and illustrator Maurice Sendak. First published in 1963, it has become a firm favourite with youngsters around the world and has sold more than 19 million copies. It was even made into a live action film in 2009.
English composer Oliver Knussen composed a fantasy opera of the same name, scoring the music between 1979 and 1983 on commission from the Opera National, Brussels. It premiered at the Theatre de la Monnaie in November 1980, and the final version was first performed by the Glyndebourne Touring Opera at the National Theatre in London in January 1984.
Auctioneer and Valuer Joseph Trinder said: “This is a quite unique find. It has been signed by the author, Maurice Sendak, who has also hand drawn one of the monsters from the story and carries the inscription, ‘for Jean’ and is dated October 1984.
“It also has an illustrated musical stave with a note, ‘for Jean, with warmest wishes, Oliver Knussen’.
“It was discovered on a routine valuation visit in Wiltshire and we have put an estimate of £3,000 – £5,000 when it comes up for auction at our Autumn Quarterly Fine and Curated Sale on Tuesday, September 16th.”
The story focuses on a young boy, Max, who wreaks havoc in his household and is sent to bed without any supper. His bedroom transforms into a jungle and he travels to an island inhabited by monsters known as the Wild Things. The book won the annual Caldecott Medal from children’s librarians in 1964, citing it as the previous year’s ‘most distinguished American picture book for children.’
The book (Lot 360) goes under the hammer on Tuesday, September 16th at Wotton Auction Rooms in Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire.
