New York Is Book Country was an annual literary festival that featured bookstalls set up across the city as well as ancillary events for bibliophiles of all ages. The fair was founded in 1979 by publishing executive Linda Exman to encourage readers to interact directly with publishers, bookstores, small presses and libraries. It began as a one-day event along Fifth Avenue and grew into a multi-day literary festival with fully-pedestrianized streets fairs and events across the five boroughs. Each year, a different artist was commissioned to create the annual poster, and designs came from Keith Haring, Margaret Cusack and Maurice Sendak. Sendak designed the inaugural poster in 1979 and was later invited to create many more including the 10th, 20th and 25th anniversary posters (see lots 56 and 170), continuing his long collaboration with the fair which was last held in 2010

Present here is Sendak's original artwork for the 1998 poster celebrating New York Is Book Country's 20th anniversary. One of Sendak's Wild Things, Bernard, digs into a pile of books including Shakespeare and, Sendak's personal favorite, Mozart. This "literary feast" image is a motif that Sendak often returned to for projects that he undertook concerning literature and the arts.