Description
“I HAD MORE FUN WRITING THEM THAN ANY OTHER BOOK”: L. FRANK BAUM’S AMERICAN FAIRY TALES, 1901, INSCRIBED BY HIM TO “DOROTHY”
BAUM, L. Frank. American Fairy Tales. Chicago and New York: George M. Hill, 1901. Octavo, modern full red morocco gilt, raised bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt.
Rare first edition, only printing, with 24 full-page illustrations and decorative borders throughout, presentation/association copy inscribed by Baum in the year of publication to a “Dorothy,” the daughter of Chicago businessman Harrison Rountree.
Baum’s popular Father Goose: His Book (1899) and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) propelled his publisher, George M. Hill, from “an undistinguished existence… into the fore as a producer of modern and noteworthy children’s books… Hill commissioned Baum to write a series of short children’s stories for syndication in major newspapers early in 1901, prior to their publication in a single omnibus volume under the title American Fairy Stories” (Bienvenue, 187). Like his Oz adventures, these stories demonstrate Baum’s belief that the United States deserved its own, modern form of “wonder tale.” Stories include “The Laughing Hippopotamus,” “The Magic Bon Bons,” “The Capture of Father Time” and (especially notable given Baum’s experience designing store display windows) “The Dummy That Lived.” Ultimately, however, not even Baum’s wonderful literary wizardry could save Hill from financial ruin early the next year. With black-and-white decorative title page and textual borders by Ralph Fletcher; and 24 full-page illustrations by Ike Morgan, Harry Kennedy and (for “The Wonderful Pump”) N.P. Hall. Baum’s inscription to “Miss Dorothy Rountree” reads, in full: “Dear Dorothy – These stories are different from other fairy tales, but I hope they will please you by way of contrast & I had more fun writing them than any other book I have published. Always yours, L. Frank Baum. Chicago, Oct 30, 1901.” Baum dedicated his earlier book By the Candelabra’s Glare (1898) to Chicago businessman and friend Harrison H. Rountree. “Baum’s family always insisted that he did not model [Dorothy of the Oz books] on anyone in particular. Frank Joslyn Baum, the author’s oldest son, explained in a letter to The Baum Bugle (June 1957), ‘… [L. Frank Baum] did not know any girl or woman by the name of Dorothy’… Of course, that was not entirely true. Baum did know Dorothy Rountree, the daughter of his friend Harrison H. Rountree, brother-in-law of his publisher Chauncey Williams and the backer of The Show Window, Baum’s magazine for window trimmers. Perhaps to honor this girl he named the heroine of [his 1898 story] ‘Little Bun Rabbit’ Dorothy.” (Hearn, The Annotated Wizard of Oz, 12). She may also have been on Baum’s mind when he named the heroine of his Oz tales. In 1910, Baum, unable to pay a debt to Rountree, signed over to him the copyright to and royalties to nine of his books, including The Wizard of Oz. Rountree controlled those rights until 1932.
Text generally clean, with light creasing to corners. Front free endpaper with small repair to upper corner, not touching Baum’s signature. Rare, and exceptionally desirable inscribed by Baum.
