{"product_id":"how-the-grinch-stole-christmas-by-dr-seuss-random-house-hardcover-c-1985-1989","title":"How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss, Random House Hardcover, c. 1985–1989","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA large-format hardcover, and the cover is one of the most efficient pieces of graphic design in children's publishing. Pillar-box red ground. A white starburst blown out of the centre with a hard green zigzag edge, like a Christmas card detonating. Inside it, the Grinch — drawn in nothing but black line, no colour at all except two orange eyes — leaning in with one claw raised and an expression of complete private satisfaction.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe title runs in white across the top in Seuss's hand lettering, tilted, the words stacked and crowding each other. HOW the GRINCH Stole CHRISTMAS! By Dr. Seuss in green beneath.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe boards are laminated and still carry a strong gloss. The spine is red with the title in white and RANDOM HOUSE at the tail, and the book is wide enough to sit face-out on a shelf and hold a room.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eSeuss published this in 1957, the same year as \u003cem\u003eThe Cat in the Hat\u003c\/em\u003e — two of the most durable books in American children's literature out of a single twelve months.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe was in his early fifties and, by his own account, writing about himself. He had caught sight of his own face in the mirror one December and not liked what the season had done to it, and the book that came out of that is less a children's story about a monster than an adult's argument about what Christmas is for. The Grinch is not defeated. He changes his mind, which is a harder and better ending.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 1966 animated television special — directed by Chuck Jones, narrated by Boris Karloff — turned the book into an annual fixture, and it has stayed one for sixty years. Almost everyone who picks this up already knows how it ends and picks it up anyway.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStated plainly: \u003cstrong\u003ethis is a later printing, not a 1957 first edition.\u003c\/strong\u003e A true first with its jacket is a collector's book at a collector's price. This is the standard Random House hardcover — the one that gets read aloud in December and put back in the box in January.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"8\" cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"width:100%; border-collapse:collapse;\"\u003e\n\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eField\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eDetail\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\u003c\/thead\u003e\n\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eObject\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eHardcover book\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eTitle\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eHow the Grinch Stole Christmas!\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eAuthor\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eDr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel)\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003ePublisher\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eRandom House, New York\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eForm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eLarge-format illustrated laminated hardcover, no dust jacket\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eEra\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003ec. 1985–1989. Later printing; first published 1957.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eVery good. The binding is tight and square with no loose or missing pages, and the text and illustrations are clean, bright and unmarked throughout. The laminated boards are glossy and the red is strong. There is light rubbing at the corners and spine ends and minor surface scuffing to the red ground. No tears, no inscriptions, no odour. Condition Guaranteed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eAvailability\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eOne of a Kind — 1 Available\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a seasonal object that earns its storage. It comes out with the decorations, sits on the coffee table or the mantel for six weeks doing more work than most ornaments, and goes back in the box. Red and green in that intensity is hard to find in anything that is not tacky, and this is the opposite of tacky — it is a piece of mid-century graphic design that happens to be about Christmas.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is also the correct December gift for an adult, which is a narrow category. A hardcover Grinch says something a novelty item cannot, and the person receiving it will recognise the cover before they read the title.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd it is a read-aloud that holds a room. The meter is relentless, the vocabulary is deliberately strange, and children who cannot yet read will sit through the whole thing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA note on care: keep it out of direct sun, which will fade that red faster than any other colour on the shelf and will do it in a single season on a bright windowsill. Wipe the boards with a dry or barely damp cloth only — cleaners cloud and lift lamination. Store it flat or upright, not wedged, and if it lives in a decorations box eleven months a year, keep that box somewhere dry and off a garage floor.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48029595467881,"sku":null,"price":48.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/IMG_37282.jpg?v=1788998757","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/how-the-grinch-stole-christmas-by-dr-seuss-random-house-hardcover-c-1985-1989","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}