First Edition of the Beloved Children's Classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

L. Frank Baum; W. W. Denslow, illus. THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ. Chicago and New York: Geo. M. Hill Co., 1900. First edition; second state with two first state points; second state binding. Hardcover. Original light green cloth-covered pictorial boards stamped and lettered in red and green, with pictorial paste-downs (issued without free endpapers). 8vo; [1-11], 12-259, [3]pp. With (24) tipped-in color plates (including the title page) and numerous in-text illustrations throughout. In scarce second state binding (Hanff's variant B) with publisher's imprint on spine in sans-serif type stamped in red without the encircling "C." Hanff & Greene 25-27; Blanck 111-113.

8 5/8 x 6 7/8 in.

Private North Carolina Collection

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a complex book bibliographically speaking due to its three separate components (text pages, color plates, binding), all of which were modified. This copy is technically a mixed state of the first edition, though predominantly second state with two first state points. With the following second state points: publisher's advertisement not enclosed in a box; "low wail of..." (p. 14, line 1); "pieces" spelled correctly (p. 81); "While The Woodman" (p. 227); press-printed copyright on title page verso; plate facing p. 92 without red shading on the horizon; and imperfect type on the last line of p. 100 and p. 86. It also meets the following first state points: the color plate facing p. 34 has two dark blue spots on the moon and the colophon is set in eleven lines and enclosed in a double-ruled box. In addition, this copy is found in a scarce binding variant (second state copies are typically found in Hanff's variant C binding).

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is the first in the Oz series created by L. Frank Baum. It tells the famous tale of Dorothy's adventures in the Land of Oz and her quest to return home to Kansas. Baum wrote the original 14 books in the series, and due to its popularity, publisher Reilly & Lee continued the series for decades through the work of numerous authors.

Boards with scattered soiling and staining to covers and spine, typical dulling to cloth, edge wear, and corners bumped and rubbed; spine darkened, lightly rubbed, with wear to ends including some fraying and a 1-in. split of the backstrip at the head, and some separation from text block; front hinge inexpertly reinforced; first page (blank) with residue and old inscription; occasional heavy gutter cracking revealing binding with a few gatherings with associated looseness; typical age and handling wear to interior such as toning, a rare spot of foxing, occasional small tear, and scattered light grime, soiling, marks, and finger smudging; plates with occasional crease, small chip, or tear, one (second color plate, facing pg. 14) detached but present, and several attached but with partial separation at head and/or tail; a well-loved copy as is common, but complete. Good condition.