William Steig: The Horn Book Magazine Poster

After Maurice Sendak, the second artist asked to create a cover for a year's run of The Horn Book Magazine was William Steig. His cover had its premiere in the November-December 1986 issue. The magazine's name Horn Book always seemed to refer to Randolph Caldecott's hunting horns, but Steig has a new and amusing take on the title. A signed, limited edition poster of the cover was published as well, shown here.

March 5, 2021 Update:  The Horn Book Magazine is named for hornbooks, educational primers consisting of a single page covered by a transparent horn and held in a frame with a handle. Caldecott's hunting horns were a pun on this term, just as Steig's goat is.

Note:  Images of original art and published rarities by William Steig are desired for future blog posts here.

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Maurice Sendak: The Horn Book Magazine Poster

Traditionally, The Horn Book Magazine's cover featured an adaptation of an illustration by Randolph Caldecott showing three huntsmen on horseback blowing their—you guessed it!—horns.

https://www.abebooks.com...

Starting with the issue of November-December 1985, the magazine commissioned an annual cover illustration to run for each of six bimonthly issues. The first of these covers was by Maurice Sendak and it featured an image that included Caldecott himself sketching in the park, Caldecott's cat and the fiddle, and, for good measure, a Sendak Wild Thing. A poster of the cover was issued in a signed edition of 300. One of these posters was recently listed on AbeBooks.

Maurice Sendak
AbeBooks listing accessed February 14, 2021

https://www.abebooks.com/POSTER-HORN-BOOK-MAGAZINE-Sendak-Maurice/30365519100/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=viewbook_high

The original art was offered last year through Christie's Private Sale:

Maurice Sendak
Christie's Private Sale

https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-maurice-sendak-cover-for-horn-book-magazine-6262750/?lid=1&from=relatedlot&intobjectid=6262750&sc_lang=en

Note:  Christie's Private Sales don't retain price information, at least not any that I can locate. I'd like to hear from anyone who knows the asking price for this illustration and, if possible, whether it was sold.

Scans of original art by Maurice Sendak are eagerly sought for future blog posts.

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Maurice Sendak's "Reading is Fun" Poster

Maurice Sendak seems to have no trouble producing enchanting posters. The theme of the poster art shown here is "Reading is Fun," and, yes, even the man in the moon is getting into it. Sendak's characters from Where the Wild Things Are seem generally delighted to help support the cause, although it would appear that only the boy Max really grasps the finer points of reading. Books shown include Caldecott's picture books, Grimm's fairy tales, a volume of nursery rhymes, and, of course, Sendak's own classic Where the Wild Things Are. 

In Caldecott & Co. (1989), Sendak discusses his appreciation of Randolph Caldecott's illustrations and he even mentions how sublime it would be to possess a particular original of Baby Bunting. I find this fascinating, as I believe a great many people today would feel precisely this elation about owning a splendid piece of original Sendak art!

Maurice Sendak, "Reading is Fun," 1979

http://susan-fama.blogspot.com/2009/10/childrens-book-world.html

June 25, 2017 Update:  A couple of signed posters are available on AbeBooks. Here's one of them:

Maurice Sendak
B & B Rare Books, Ltd.
AbeBooks Listing as of June 25, 2017

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=11898845754&searchurl=kn%3DReading%2Bis%2Bfun%26sortby%3D17%26an%3DSendak

Note:  More Max.

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