THE CAT IN THE HAT - New York, 1957 - First edition with author's dedication

THE CAT IN THE HAT - New York, 1957 - First edition with author's dedication

THE CAT IN THE HAT - By Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel), United States. 1957, first edition. Copy with the author's signed dedication.

Dr. Seuss (1904-1991) American writer and illustrator, one of the leaders of children's literature in America in the 20th century. In May 1954, "Life" magazine published a report on child illiteracy, which concluded that children had difficulty learning to read because of the boring nature of children's books at the time. Due to this conclusion, Seuss' publisher compiled a list of 400 important words, and asked Dr. Seuss to select 250 words from the list and write a book consisting only of them. After working for nine months, Seuss returned with the book "The Cat in the Hat", which contains 236 of the words given to him. The book was published in 1957, and was an unprecedented instant critical and commercial success. Critics praised it as an exciting and groundbreaking alternative to the old style of children's books. Three years after its debut, the book has already sold more than a million copies, and in 2001, the "Publishers Weekly" listed the book as the ninth best-selling children's book of all time. In 1983, Seuss said: "This is the book I am most proud of...". And even appeared in a successful TV program. The book was translated into Hebrew by Lea Naor, and it was published by Keter under the name "חתול תעלול".

The first edition came out in several printings with different markings (first printed in a limited edition of only 200 copies). Before us the first edition marked "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER 56-5470", which is the first edition, but not the first printing.

61 p. 24 cm. Hardcover, missing dust jacket. Very good condition.