Lot 348

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Description:

Dr. Seuss Signed Early Printing of 1939 Book, “The King’s Stilts”

Book Signed “For Jake / with Best Wishes - / - Dr. Seuss / Nov. 7 – 1957” opposite the title page of “The King’s Stilts,” written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss. New York: Random House, 1939. Yellow cloth covers with red lettering on front, no lettering on spine, (9.25" x 12"). Stains at top left edge on front cover and left edge of back cover. The endpapers and back dust jacket are red with crown & stilts in black & white. Original second-state dust jacket with tears and some paper loss, with wear at edges and spine. Price “$2.50” intact. Book in Very Good condition.

Printed on verso of title page, on top “Other Juveniles by Dr. Seuss / And to Think that I Saw It on Mulberry Street / The Five Hundred Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins,” on bottom “Copyright, 1939, by Dr. Seuss / Lithographed in the United States of America.” “Mulberry Street” was published in 1937, “Five Hundred Hats” in 1938. From “Dr. Seuss: American Icon” by Philip Nel (New York: Continuum, 2004),

In the book [‘The King’s Stilts’], King Birtram, depressed by the theft of his stilts, abandons his kingdom to the Nizzards, who eat at the roots of the Dike Trees protecting his island nation. Reviewing ‘The King’s Stilts’ for the ‘Dartmouth Alumni Magazine,’ Seuss’s classmate Alexander Laing remarks, ‘The Dr. may not have meant it, but to me those contemptible Nizzards are bombing planes.’

Whether or not other contemporary readers noticed parallels between the book and the war in Europe, ‘The King’s Stilts’ is the sole pre-war Seuss work in which a king’s behavior affects his entire country. Written on the eve of the Second World War, the book might register Seuss’s anxieties about the growing global crisis.

As a leader who has grown lazy about the potential dangers to his country, King Birtram could represent Isolationists’ influence in both America and Great Britain. The phonetic bond between ‘Birtram’ and ‘Britain’ links Seuss’s King to England’s Prime Minister, another appeaser who fails to act against the powerful threats to the island he governs... Seuss describes the Nizzard as 'a kind of giant blackbird with a sharp and pointed beak ...always flying about over the Dike Trees, waiting for a chance to swoop down and peck...' The Nazi eagle had a sharp and pointed beak.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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January 10, 2024 10:30 AM EST
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Bid Increments
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$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000