The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

BAUM, L. Frank; Illustrated by W.W. Denslow.

Item Number: 4460

Chicago & New York: George M. Hill & Company, 1900.

First edition, first issue, second state with all points present and red unserifed spine imprint. Original pale green cloth stamped in green and red. Twentyfour color plates and illustrations throughout by W.W. Denslow. A very good example with some wear to foot of the spine, covers lightly soiled. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. The printing history of the George Hill edition has been hotly debated for years. Jacob Blanck in Peter Parley to Penrod (1938) identified three printings of the first edition: States X, Y and Z. The major distinction between the three states was the copyright page. (The “Y” state may have been merely a mixed copy.) No doubt due to the haste in which the book was produced in 1900, Hill unfortunately printed Denslow’s pictorial copyright page on the verso of the “Introduction” rather than on the verso of the title page as required by law. Some copies, as is the case with the present copy, left the publisher before the mistake was discovered. To correct the error, Hill had the verso of the title-page of remaining copies rubber stamped with the copyright notice: “Copyright 1899 / By L. Frank Baum and W. W. Denslow. / All Rights Reserved.” The present example also contains the earliest state of the color plates with mistakes intact: two blotches on the moon, facing p 34; and a red horizon line, facing p 92. Riley, A Bookbinder’s Analysis of the First Edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, 2011, pp 26-29 and 35-47; see Hanff & Greene I.I.A.

Frank L. Baum worked in many trades before he wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, including publisher, poultry breeder, door-to-door salesman and newspaper editor. "Among the five Baum titles published in 1900, preeminent even then was The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The New York Times found it 'bright and joyous' and omnisciently offered, 'It will indeed be strange if there be a normal child who will not enjoy the story.' The first edition was a picturesque novelty with its 24 color plates and many line drawings; Denslow's conceptions of the characters and landscapes contributed immeasurably to the book's popularity" (Fricke, 22). Baum "set out to change children's books and made a lasting contribution to American literature The Wizard of Oz has entered American folklore. It reflected and has altered the American character" (Hearn, xiii). "Those who read the Oz books are often made what they were not—imaginative, tolerant, alert to wonders, life" (Gore Vidal).