Ende, Michael (1979) ‘Die Unendliche Geschichte’, true German first edition with signed and inscribed book

Michael Ende (1979) ‘Die Unendliche Geschichte‘, German first edition, first printing (erste Ausgabe und erste Auflage), published by Thienemanns Verlag. True first impression with the numberline descending until the mandatory ‘1’ on the copyright page. The book has been rebound in full leather as shown with two silk ribbons and a box for protection. The book retains the original dust jacket. The front artwork is inspired by the film adaptation (1984). This comes with another book, beautifully signed and inscribed by Michael Ende: “Lieber Löwe, da sehen Sie mal, was passiert, wenn zwei Leute, die nicht philosophieren können, sich in die Wolle kriegen… Herzlich! Michael Ende | München 1. Nov. 89” The inscription is in Kunst und Politik – ein Gespräch. This was a live debate about art and politics with the seminal artist Joseph Beuys. Condition: the book presents in fine and unread condition. The dust jacket is fine as well. The solander case is not of great quality but does the job in protecting the book. Die Unendliche Geschichte is Michael Ende’s masterpiece and was adapted as a film in 1984 by Wolfgang Petersen. Although Ende hated the film adaptation and even did not want to see his name credited it did help to boost international sales of the translated book The Neverending Story (first English edition 1983). In the German-speaking world the book was a tremedous success from the start and sold more than five million copies until Ende’s death in 1995 alone. To this date some ten to forty million copies have been sold world wide. Since Ende lived in Italy and did not appear often in Germany signed first edition copies are extremely rare and valuable, and we have seen a few copies with fake signatures.