Dear Mili

Grimm, Wilhelm K and Jacob W. (Ralph Manheim, translator)

ISBN 10: 0374317623 / ISBN 13: 9780374317621

Published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, New York, NY, U.S.A., 1988

About this Item

A beautiful First Edition, First Printing obtained directly from the late Maurice Sendak and signed for Parrish Books by him on the half-title page on February 1, 2004 at his home in Connecticut. In fine dark green cloth with a fine colorful dustjacket. In 1983, antiquarian bookseller Justin Schiller sold a letter written by Wilhelm Grimm that included the original manuscript of a previously unknown fairy tale titled 'Mili.' Scholars believe Wilhelm Grimm wrote the story not for publication, but as a personal gift to a young girl named Mili, offering her comfort during the turmoil of the Napoleonic Wars. In his 1992 essay "Recent Trends in the Contemporary American Fairy Tale," Jack Zipes observes, "Anyone familiar with Sendak's works, particularly 'Where the Wild Things Are,' can perhaps understand why he was drawn to this tale. He has never tired of illustrating the flight and return of the child, who reconciles himself to a mother or home." A poignant story about a young girl sent into the forest by her mother to shield her from a devastating war. She believes she spends three days with an elderly man, but upon returning home, she discovers that thirty years have passed. Sendak's "The Juniper Tree" shares a number of similarities to "Dear Mili." Sendak weaves numerous literary and historical allusions with his characteristic whimsy, including a brief appearance of Mozart conducting a children's choir in Brooklyn.

Seller Inventory # 5223

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Dear Mili
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, New York, NY, U.S.A.
• Publication Date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0374317623
• ISBN 13: 9780374317621
• Binding: Cloth
• Illustrator: Sendak, Maurice
• Edition: First Edition, First Printing.
• Condition: New
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine in Archival Plastic Cover
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Modern Classics
  • Sendak, Maurice
  • Important First Books
  • FEATURED AUTHORS
  • FICTION

About this title

Synopsis

On September 28, 1983, the discovery of a previously unknown tale by Wilhelm Grimm was reported on the front page of The New York Times. "After more than 150 years," the Times noted, "Hansel and Gretel, Snow-White, Rumpelstiltskin, and Cinderella will be joined by another Grimm fairy-tale character." The story of dear Mili was preserved in a letter Wilhelm Grimm wrote to a little girl in 1816, a letter that remained in her family's possession for over a century and a half. It tells of a mother who sends her daughter into the forest to save her from a terrible war. The child comes upon the hut of an old man, who gives her shelter, and she repays his kindness by serving him faithfully for what she thinks are three days. Actually, thirty years have passed, but Mili has remained safe, and with the old man's blessing there is still time for a tender reunion with her mother. As for the pictures that interpret Dear Mili—hailed by School Library Journal as "gorgeous"—they were a milestone in Maurice Sendak's career, the work of a master at the height of his powers.

About the Author

MAURICE SENDAK (1928–2012) was one of the preeminent children's book illustrators and authors of the twentieth century. Best-known for the Caldecott Medal–winning Where the Wild Things Are, he was also the recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Award for children's book illustration, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, and the National Medal of Arts.

WILHELM GRIMM (1786–1859) was a German author, linguist, and folklorist who, along with his older brother, Jakob, published Children's and Household Tales in 1812. Popularly known as Grimms' Fairy Tales, this collection was continually revised by the brothers and ultimately included 210 folk tales, among them many that have become famous around the world.