{"product_id":"14646-thompson-kay-knight-hilary-kay-thompson-s-eloise-a-book-for-precocious-grown-ups-drawings-by-hilary-knight-signed-by-thompson-and-knight","title":"Thompson, Kay (1909 - 1998) \u0026 Knight, Hilary. (b. 1926) Kay Thompson's Eloise: A Book for Precocious Grown Ups. Drawings by Hilary Knight.  - SIGNED BY THOMPSON AND KNIGHT","description":"\u003cp align=\"justify\" style=\"\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"\"\u003eA rare double signed copy of the author's first book. Slim quarto, 65 pp., original illustrated red cloth. Inscribed by the author on the front free endpage facing the title, \"For Paul- For Lord's Sake \/ Kay Thompson\" and some years later, by the illustrator Hilary Knight, who adds in a darker black ink \"and Hilary Knight \/ 2000.\" Chipping and wear to ends of spine, lower edge and corners, in the original dust jacket, worn with significant tears and losses to the spine and upper and lower front edges.  \u003c\/span\u003eA very good copy of a classic title rarely found signed by both of the creators.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp align=\"justify\" style=\"\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"\"\u003eMaurice Sendak called Eloise a \"brazen, loose-limbed little monster\" and a\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"\"\u003enyone who has been introduced to the eccentric 6-year-old who spends her days at large in New York's Plaza Hotel pouring water down the mail chute and managing her self-imposed responsibilities can't help but be fascinated. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"\"\u003e“Eloise’s birth was unexpected. At rehearsals of her act with the Williams Brothers, Thompson [who was a professional singer] prized punctuality. Then one day she was late. In a high, childish voice that she had never used before, she made her apology. One of her co-workers said, ‘Who are you, little girl?’ Thompson replied, ‘I am Eloise. I am six.’ The others joined in the game, each assuming a juvenile identity, and it became a regular rehearsal pastime” (\u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci style=\"\"\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"\"\u003e). That pastime became a book, with three more to follow in Thompson’s lifetime. “Eloise became an alternative persona for Kay Thompson, much as the dummy Charlie McCarthy was for Edgar Bergen? [allowing] Thompson to express contrarian thoughts and ideas. Eloise took form as a lonely and whimsical child who created her own world” (Marie Brenner).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr style=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp align=\"justify\" style=\"\"\u003e\u003cbr style=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46093557334175,"sku":"14646","price":3500.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0512\/4826\/7423\/files\/Eloise_Kay_Thompson_Signed_14646a.jpg?v=1722188823","url":"https:\/\/www.schubertiademusic.com\/products\/14646-thompson-kay-knight-hilary-kay-thompson-s-eloise-a-book-for-precocious-grown-ups-drawings-by-hilary-knight-signed-by-thompson-and-knight","provider":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}