With a small illustration by Sendak of Jennie the dog with speech bubbles ‘Hello’ and inscribed from him to Julia MacRae to the half title: ‘Maurice Sendak & his dog Jennie April, ’67’. Additionally inscribed by ‘Judy’, likely Judy Taylor Hough MBE, explaining how the book was bought for MacRae.
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.
Judy Taylor Hough another key figure in British Children’s book publishing, was great friends with Sendak. She was the children’s book editor for Bodley Head when Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are was first printed in the UK.
A very good copy, with some wear to the jacket, particularly to the joint of the front flap with a small chip. Jacket price clipped.
