The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Chicago: George M. Hill Co., 1900 Illustrated by W. W. Denslow, with 24 color plates. First edition, first printing. Binding state "B" with publisher's imprint in red un-serifed type at foot of spine (copies of binding "A" with publisher's imprint to spine in green are extremely scarce and generally considered to be pre-publication copies for friends of the author and publisher.) Text is second state, containing the following corrected issue points: page 2 without box around ads, 1st line of page 14 reads "low wail of", 4th line from the bottom of page 81 spells "pieces" correctly, 1st line of page 227 reads "While The Woodman", and colophon with no surrounding box and reset to 13 lines. Illustrations are mixed state: plate facing page 34 is first state with two dark blue blots to the face of the moon, plate facing page 92 is second state without pink shading at the horizon, and verso of title page is second state with a press-printed copyright notice. Publisher's pale green pictorial cloth stamped in green and red with The Cowardly Lion to front board, rear board with Dorothy, Tin Woodman, and The Scarecrow. Very good, with some toning to spine, light soiling to cloth, shallow chipping to cloth at spine ends, corners rubbed to boards, some repair to front hinge, small crack to gutter of pp. [224 - 225], and plate facing p. 102 loose but holding. Overall, an excellent copy of this iconic children's book, with clean plates and pages. Hanff & Greene, I. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, subsequently published under the shortened title The Wizard of Oz, is the first of Baum's books to feature the fictional Land of Oz. Inspired by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, Baum created the first truly American fairy tale, with references to American physical and social landscapes. The story features a young female protagonist, Dorothy Gale, and tells of her adventures in the colorful world of Oz after being transported there from her Kansas home by a tornado. The novel is illustrated by William Wallace Denslow, a book designer and political cartoonist who had previously illustrated Baum's earlier works. The author and illustrator later disagreed about whose contribution garnered the book's commercial success and therefore deserved more of its royalties. As a result of this conflict, John R. Neill illustrated Baum's thirteen subsequent Oz books. In 1939, L Frank Baum's book was adapted into the musical film, The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland in the role of Dorothy. The film made some notable changes to the book, for example Dorothy's slippers are silver in the book but ruby red in the film, and the Emerald City is actually green in the film, whereas in the book the city's greenness is an illusion created by green-tinted glasses that the city's inhabitants and visitors are forced to wear. The film is considered one of the greatest of all-time and introduced songs like "Over the Rainbow," "If I Only Had a Heart," and "We're Off to See the Wizard." The Wonderful Wizard of Oz also inspired Gregory Maguire's novel, Wicked (1995), which was adapted into a smash-hit Broadway musical by the same name, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. . First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good. Illus. by Denslow, W. W.. (Inventory #: LFB024)