With a lovely detailed and large illustration of the Bee-Man and inscription in blue ink from Maurice Sendak to Julia MacRae on the verso of the front free endpaper: ‘June, 1967 For Julia with great pleasure! Maurice Sendak’.
Julia MacRae (1934-2023) was an important figure in the world of children’s publishing, some of her significant contributions include Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas. During her career she worked as an editor for Constable, Collins and Hamish Hamilton where she became the first female board member and one of the first women in any publisher’s boardroom. In an interview with ‘Women in Publishing: An Oral History’ MacRae speaks about her experiences as the first female member of the board, and how hard she had to work to get there.
In 1979 she left Hamish Hamilton having become not only the managing director of the children’s book division, but also the director of both Hamilton and its parent company Thomson Books. She established her own imprint Julia MacRae Books, initially part of Franklin Watts, then Walker Books, and finally Random Century.
A near fine copy, light rubbing to top and tail of spine panel and tips of jacket flaps, bottom corner of front flap clipped but retaining the original dollar price of $3.50.
