[SENDAK, Maurice]. Dear Mili. An old tale by Wilhelm Grimm, newly translated by Ralph Manheim, with pictures by Maurice Sendak. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux [1988]. Oblong 8vo, [40]pp. Gray cloth pictorially blind stamped on front, spine stamped in gold. Pale pink endpapers; 3 double-page and 12 full-page color illustrations. Lower spine end the slightest bit rubbed, else a fine copy in original color pictorial dust jacket. Inscribed by the artist, Caldecott Medalist Maurice Sendak, with a small drawing of a Wild Thing.

First edition. Maurice Sendak wonderfully captures the spirit of this long-lost Grimm fairy tale in vibrant and intricate color illustrations. The tale of a young girl who escapes a 30-year long war by hiding in the forest with a kindly and mysterious old man. The drawing in this copy is of the bull-horned wild thing (Moishe from the opera) and shows more detail and care than the artist’s typical quick sketch. It is also rare to find a drawing of a wild thing in an unrelated Sendak title.