HAROLD'S CIRCUS
First printing of the fifth book in the Harold series of mid-century meta-picture books.
Very good plus in very good jacket.
Price: $1,000.00
HAROLD'S CIRCUS
"His clean, precise style depicts only the details the story requires, omitting all else." – Philip Nel
In this installment, Harold experiences many highlights of a circus visit, from elephants and lions to trapeze and lemonade, all through the creative power of his purple crayon. Besides becoming immediate bestsellers, the minimalist Harold books – simultaneously simple and profound – have become an influential favorite of many other artists and authors: in his 1982 acceptance speech for the Caldecott Award for JUMANJI, Chris Van Allsburg explicitly thanks "Harold, for his purple crayon"; Maurice Sendak praised the "supreme inventiveness" of Harold; Rita Dove names Harold in her poem "Maple Valley Branch Library, 1967." Quite scarce in collectible condition.
Read more: Nel, Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss: How an Unlikely Couple Found Love, Dodged the FBI, and Transformed Children's Literature; Sendak, Horn Book Magazine, May-June 1994.
The Object
First edition. [New York]: Harper & Brothers, 1959. 5.75'' x 4.5''. Original quarter black cloth, purple and white paper pictorial boards. In original purple and white price-clipped pictorial dust jacket. Illustrated by Johnson in black and purple on every page. [64] pages. Book with a couple bumps, sliver of toning at edges, and small smudge on front endpaper; jacket with moderate shelfsoil, evidence of tape repair to verso, light rubbing and a couple short closed tears.
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