The Light Princess

New York, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1969. First Thus 1st Printing. Hardcover. Good/Fair. Sendak, Maurice. Charming Scottish fairy tale from 1864 about the princess who "lost her gravity,'' illustrated for this new edition with the lovely pen-and-ink drawings of Maurice Sendak. A FIRST EDITION, First Printing, from 1969 (First, thus), this small 12mo hardcover has 110 pages, with deep blue cloth-covered boards decorated with an elaborate design of birds & twisting, floral vines to front cover/lettering to spine. The book has suffered water damage, which has impacted both front & back boards, endpapers, & DJ, but NOT the internal pages, which are creamy white & unmarked. Former owner's name in pen to ffep. The unclipped DJ is only Fair due to the dampstaining to rear, darkening to spine, & minor chipping/soiling/edgewear; beautifully protected in new clear mylar cover free! in 203 pages. With soft green cloth over boards, lettered in dark blue to front & spine, with a colorful front paper pastedown by Smith (which shows slight rubbing, a few spots & edgewear). Hardcover small 4to (7" x 9.25") is in VG-/Good+ condition: very clean with the occasional spot or smudge inside. Former owner's name, gift inscription, & another owner's address label to front endpapers; else completely unmarked. The stitched text block secure & both hinges are intact. Externally, this is rubbing to extremities, heaviest along spine & all corners, with some cloth loss & fraying. Both front & rear boards show stains: a red paint swipe to lower edge of front, white spotting to rear. but front hinge cracked & repaired with clear tape by a previous owner. Pages moderately tanned, but completely supple. No DJ. A lovely edition for the plates alone! Our photos depict the Exact book you will receive, never "stock" images of books we don't actually have! Same day shipping on all orders received by 2 pm Weekdays (Pacific time); later orders, Weekends & holidays ship very next business day. SPECIAL: order any other Sendak books together for 20% off both & only $1.00 extra shipping per item!