The Greatest Sendak Exhibition Coming to the Rosenbach
- by Michael Stillman
Maurice Sendak is the focus of a year-long exhibition at the Rosenbach.
By Michael Stillman
The Rosenbach Museum and Library will be holding an exhibition of the life and career of famed children's author and illustrator Maurice Sendak. It is called There's a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak, and will run from May 6, 2008 until April 30, 2009. If you will be anywhere near Philadelphia during the next year, this is your opportunity to learn all about this man and his fantastic imagination. Presented will be the largest Sendak exhibit in the world, over 130 pieces from the museum's large collection of original artwork, sketches, and never-before seen working material.
Sendak's career began as an illustrator in 1947, while still in high school, illustrating a text on atomics. It would pick up in the early 1950s as an illustrator, and then again in the middle of that decade when he began writing books for children. He was already a well-established writer and illustrator in 1963 when he published his best-known work of all, Where The Wild Things Are.
That Sendak chose the Rosenbach to house his work is most appropriate. Dr. A.S.W. Rosenbach, famed 20th century book dealer and founder (with his brother) of the museum, was perhaps the foremost bookseller of the century. He dealt in the most important (and expensive) printed works of his time, but personally he was a collector of children's books. He would undoubtedly be extremely pleased to see his legacy put to such good use. Indeed, it was just as his long career and life was coming to a close in 1952 that Sendak was just beginning a career that has lasted into the new century.
The exhibition is not limited to static displays, but includes touch-screen video interviews, which cover his career, influences, and even old family photographs. Elsewhere you will find original artwork, ranging from Where The Wild Things Are to illustrations for books never published. For those unaware, William Blake and Herman Melville were among his greatest influences.
Along with the regular exhibitions there will be several special events over the course of the year. May 17 and 18 will feature performances of the Wild Things Whirligig, while Sendak's 80th birthday will be celebrated on June 10. For more information about the programs, and days and hours the museum is open, call 215-732-1600 or visit the Rosenbach online at www.rosenback.org.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
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Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
