Description
THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ, VERY RARE FIRST EDITION, FIRST STATE: A MARVELOUS PRESENTATION COPY WONDERFULLY INSCRIBED WITH DRAWING BY THE ILLUSTRATOR W.W. DENSLOW TO HIS YOUNG COUSIN THE YEAR AFTER PUBLICATION
(DENSLOW, W.W.) BAUM, L. Frank. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. With Pictures by W.W. Denslow. Chicago and New York: George M. Hill, 1900. Octavo, original pictorial light green cloth rebacked with original spine laid down. Housed in a custom chemise and half morocco slipcase.
First edition, exceptionally rare first state, illustrated with 24 color plates and numerous in-text illustrations by W.W. Denslow. Denslow has inscribed this copy, “To the young Roberts with much love from W.W. Denslow, July 4th, 1901” beneath which he has sketched his stylized seahorse logo in red ink. An exceptional opportunity to acquire a unique copy of “the first truly enduring American fantasy” (Connolly, 38).
William Wallace Denslow, who gained international notice for his “art poster” advertisements for such publishers as Rand McNally, first collaborated with Baum when he illustrated Baum’s volume of poetry, By the Candelabra’s Glare (1898). Together, they then produced Father Goose, His Book (1899). “Baum was delighted with Father Goose? but he was determined to do something far more ambitious. Just as the book was coming out, he and Denslow were already hard at work on another one, a ‘modernized’ fairy tale? The Wonderful Wizard of Oz became the best-selling children’s book of the 1900 Christmas season? With 24 color plates and over 100 textual illustrations in varying colors, it is one of the most lavishly illustrated American children’s book of the 20th century? Reviewers could not decide who deserved more credit for the wonderful book, Baum or Denslow” (Hearn, xxxvi, xli, xliii). “Denslow’s conceptions of the characters and landscapes contributed immeasurably to the book’s popularity” (Fricke, 22) and earned him favorable comparisons with such acknowledged children’s book illustration masters as Walter Crane, Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott. Denslow inscribed this copy to Wilson B. Roberts, son of Denslow’s first cousin, Florence. A tipped-in blank leaf safeguards the inscription. This book is bibliographically complicated since the text, color plates and binding were separately produced. This copy possesses all first state points in text and illustrations, save that the plate facing page 92 is second state (with no red shading on the horizon). The copy is in binding B (spine imprint in red sans serif type). Hanff & Greene, 25-27. Blanck, 111-13.Barron, Fantasy and Horror 5-19.
Tiny bit of slight marginal dampstaining to title page and plates, light edge-wear to bottom of plate facing page 44. Light soiling and rubbing to cloth. A wonderful copy of the elusive first state, extraordinarily desirable inscribed by Denslow.
