Eight hundred rare books are at the center of a legal dispute between the executors of Maurice Sendak's will and The Rosenbach of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
The Rosenbach claims that the Sendak estate is refusing to part with the books, even though Sendak’s will calls for the library to receive all of his rare books. The estate has only turned over 349 of 800 volumes, with that portion being valued at $720,000. The entire collection is worth $1.65 million, according to a figure offered by the Sendak estate in probate court filings. However, the Rosenbach puts the value much higher.
The estate is apparently trying to keep the rest of the books, 451, for themselves, but the Rosenbach suit asks probate court in Fairfield County, Connecticut, to carry out Sendak’s wish that they receive “all of my rare edition books.”
Apparently, the Sendak estate is finding some loopholes to get around having to pony up. They have not turned over several valuable volumes by Peter Rabbit author Beatrix Potter because it considers them to be children's books, not rare books. Two particularly valuable illuminated books by William Blake, Songs of Experience and Songs of Innocence, which the estate claims cannot be considered rare books because one lacks a binding and the other has pages that do not correspond to another copy of the same title. The Rosenbach suit says the estate plans to sell the Blakes, which by themselves could fetch several million dollars.
To claim this kind of distinction, the suit contends, "either demonstrates that the executors are shockingly ignorant of Mr. Sendak's views" or "is a bad-faith effort on the part of the executors to manufacture some basis" for claiming the books as property of the estate rather than the Rosenbach.
Sendak is known for his children’s book Where The Wild Things Are. His entire estate is valued at $65.8 million.
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