Rare Wizard Of Oz Movable Book Pops-Up In Marketplace

By Stephen J. Gertz

A scarce, complete, first edition, first state copy of The Wizard of Oz Waddle Book (1934) - one of the rarest of all movable books - has come into the marketplace.

Inside rear cover. Note band covering envelope with ramp.

Not only are all six waddle figures present, four of them have not been punched-out from the background sheet and are as new. The accompanying yellow brick road ramp for Dorothy, the Wizard, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, the Lion, and Toto to waddle upon is also present. This is extraordinary; the figures and ramp usually wound up as confetti within days after children got their hands on them.

The Scarecrow.

The illustrations are by renowned American artist W.W. Denslow (1856-1915), who collaborated with Oz creator L. Frank Baum on many books.

The Cowardly Lion.

When the figures are punched-out, assembled with their hinged legs, and placed at the top of the ramp, they "waddle" down the incline as paper action figures. The Cowardly Lion, presumably, needs encouragement to take his first step on The Yellow Brick Road. A metaphysical nudge from behind should suffice; "Boo!" will do.

Dorothy.

The Wizard of Oz Waddle Book is actually a reprint of the fifth edition of the first book in the classic series, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), which, in its second edition, was retitled, The New Wizard of Oz (1903). The text points are similar to the fifth edition (printed 1920s-30s), second state, but with a new title page, an additional entry at the end of the Contents for the instructions, and with the instructions bound at the rear as pages 209-211.

The color plates have text printed on the versos. In the book's first state, as here, the punch-out waddle figures are printed on sheets of heavy card stock which are mounted on bound-in perforated stubs. In its second state, the waddle figures are not mounted on stubs but, instead, enclosed in the envelope along with the ramp. The second state of the cloth is light olive rather than bright green.

Toto.

Bobbs-Merrill, who published The New Wizard of Oz, leased the plates to Blue Ribbon Books, a division of Doubleday, Doran, for the Waddle Book. Bobbs-Merrill had earlier gained possession of the plates from the original publisher of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Geo. M. Hill Co., through Baum & Denslow, after Hill went into bankruptcy in 1902.

"Copies with the Waddles are rarely found," (Greene & Hanff). Copies with the Waddles unassembled and remaining firm in their sheets are miraculous, only seen when monkeys have wings and water is lethal to witches of a certain direction.

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BAUM, L. Frank. Wizard of Oz Waddle Book. New York: Blue Ribbon Books, n.d. [1934]. First edition, first state. Quarto. [1]. 210, [1] pp. Eight color plates by W.W. Denslow, six with die-cut figures. Original pictorial envelope a rear enclosing ramp and fasteners. Green cloth with pictorial onlay. Dust jacket.

Greene and Hanff p. 35-36.

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Of related interest:

How Much Is An L. Frank Baum Inscribed Wizard Of Oz Worth?

L. Frank Baum Tells How To Read The Wizard Of Oz.

L. Frank Baum Remembers Mama, You'll Remember the Price.
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Images courtesy of Aleph-Bet Books, currently offering this item, with our thanks.
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How Much Is a L. Frank Baum Inscribed Wizard of Oz Worth?

by Stephen J. Gertz

'Twas Mr Dooley dear Mr Dooley,
 He said: 'I'll live and die in
 Waukazoo
 Mosquitoes charm me
They cannot harm me
 For I am Mr. Dooley-ooley-oo!
 August 17th
 1902
 L. Frank Baum.

Nate D. Sanders Auctions is now offering a first edition copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the first volume in the Oz series. The book is in the second state, and in binding variant C.  It is in awful condition, grimy, worn, and lacking two plates. On a good day, it's a $2,000 - $2,500 book.

But it has something very special going for it. L. Frank Baum inscribed it with a whimsical verse. 

Signed or inscribed copies of The Wonderful Wizard... are quite rare. Sanders is offering it for $45,000. The inscription increases the copy's value by a factor of twenty-two.

A fine, untouched first edition, second state copy of the book is currently being offered by David Brass Rare Books for $35,000. It contains an inscription that reads "To my dear Lyman with a Merry Christmas greeting from Aunt Maud / 1901." Baum's wife was named Maud. The "L" in L. Frank Baum stands for "Lyman." In consultation with Justin Schiller and Baum co-bibliographer, Peter E. Greene, the leading authorities in the field, we were unable to find a connection to a nephew named Lyman, and the handwriting seemed a bit off from the few samples of Maud Baum's  that were examined. The tantalizing possibility still exists that the inscription is Maud Baum's but we had to price the book on its condition alone.

The inscribed Armour copy sold at Christie's - New York in 2005 for $100,000, one of only two signed first editions to fall under the hammer since 1975. That copy was presumably  a first state copy (the auction record is unclear), and included a signed  autographed letter (ALs).

Included with the Sanders copy is a letter of provenance from the granddaughter of the original recipient, Dorothy Lake. Within she relates that her grandmother was 11 years old in 1902 and went on a holiday every summer to Waukazoo on the shores of Lake Michigan. Baum was reportedly charmed by Miss Lake and by the coincidence of meeting a real Dorothy in the same resort area in which he wrote portions of The Wonderful Wiz...

This rich letter of provenance cast this as a Presentation copy, and Presentation copies of Baum's masterpiece are extremely  scarce on the market, those with verse inscriptions particularly so. 

The Rechler copy, the only other copy inscribed in verse that I am aware of, was offered by Christie's - New York in 2002. It had some spotting and soiling, and a small margin tear to one of the plates. It sold for $130,000. Without the inscription its value would be around fifteen-to-twenty percent lower than the DBRB copy, $28,000 - $29,750. By that formula, the inscription was valued by the buyer at $100,250 - $102,000.

$45,000 (OBO) is a fair price for the Sanders copy, perhaps a little shy. It's a wreck but it will sell.

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The Sanders copy:

BAUM, L. Frank. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Illustrated by W.W. Denslow. Chicago: George Hill Company: 1900. First edition, inscribed by the author with an original verse. Original pictorial cloth stamped in red and green (variant "C"). Leaf with inscription is browned and a little chipped at edges and with a 2-inch closed tear through "A" of "August." Plates and text leaves frayed with some extremity loss. With 22 color plates, missing the two facing pages 80 and 254. Volume has been rebacked with original spine laid down, to an attractive, presentable condition though boards still remain heavily soiled.

Blanck, Peter Parley to Penrod, pp. 111-113. Greene and Hanff, pp. 25-27.

Second state points: p. [2], the publisherís advertisement is not enclosed in a box; p. 14, line 1 begins: ìlow wail ofÖî; p. 81, the fourth line from bottom has ìpiecesî; p. [227], line 1 begins: "While The Woodman"; and the colophon on the rear pastedown is set in thirteen lines and is not enclosed in a box, with the initial letter in black; with broken type in the last line of p. 100 and p. 186. The verso of the title has the copyright notice.

Variant C Binding:  Light green cloth pictorially stamped and lettered in red and a darker green with the publisherís imprint at foot of spine in plain, unserifed type, stamped in red rather than green, and with the ìCî of Co.î encircling the ìoî). Color pictorial pastedown endpapers (the front pastedown printed in black and gray and the rear pastedown printed in black and red). Issued without free endpapers.

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Images courtesy of Nate Sanders Auctions, with our thanks.
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L. Frank Baum Tells How To Read the Wizard of Oz

by Stephen J. Gertz

On July 18, 1915, L. Frnak Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz and its sequels, responded to a letter he received from Rev. Edgar T. Read of Westminster, MD. 

Within, Baum relates his aims and hopes for the Oz books.

"Such a appreciation as yours is my greatest reward in writing stories for children," he writes. "I want to amuse the little ones and at the same time strengthen their imaginations, as I believe the future development of civilization depends on the imagination of coming generations more than anything else. I also try to insert a covert moral, which the child may not discover but will nevertheless sense, and to keep the little stories as pure and sweet as they are adventurous.."

He continues with advice on how to read the Oz series --

"The Oz books need not be read consecutively, but still if you read them in the order in which they were written you will understand the characters better. The Wizard of Oz; The Land of Oz; Ozma of Oz; Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz; The Road to Oz; The Emerald City of Oz; Tik-Tok of Oz; the Scarecrow of Oz"

-- and expresses what appears to be a degree of frustration that his other books for children have not received the same attention, despite his belief that they are as good if not better than the Oz books.

"Also I wish you would read The Sea Fairies and Sky Island, which, while not Oz books, are among my best. I also like John Dough and the Cherub, the story of the Gingerbread Man."

Accompanying envelope.

Of particular note is that this letter is written on letterhead of The Oz Film Manufacturing Company, "Special Features in Fairy Extravaganzas with Original Music," a venture,  with Baum as President, whose intent was to provide wholesome, enjoyable, and non-violent movies for children that, alas, survived only two years, 1914-1915. Westerns, at the time the most popular and lucrative movie genre, were considered to be too violent for kids. But not by kids. Though a critical success, the production company was a commercial failure. The Patchwork Girl of Oz, one of three Oz books adapted by the studio (with "Original Music"), didn't pack a six-shooter.

L. Frank Baum, visionary, battling Hollywood's indifference to appropriate film fare for children: He had courage. He had heart. If he only had a brain.

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Images courtesy of Jo Ann Reisler, Ltd, with our thanks. They are offering this spectacular and revealing piece of Oziana for $7,500.

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L. Frank Baum Remembers Mama, You'll Remember The Price: $125,000

First edition, first printing, 1897.

In 1897, L[yman]. Frank Baum, age 41, after working for years as an amateur theatriste, poultry collector, retailer, journalist, and door-to-door salesman, had his first book published. Illustrated by Maxfield Parrish in the artist's book debut, Mother Goose In Prose was a moderate success. Though not a best-seller, it was popular enough to inspire one of the earliest tie-ins between a cereal manufacturer and child-oriented goods, now routine.

"Avoid mushy, starchy, pasty breakfast cereals..."
Promotional tie-in for Mother Goose In Prose:
Free copy with purchase of Pettijohn's Breakfast Food.
From the Atlantic Monthly.

He had been born into a wealthy family who indulged his youthful preoccupations - his father bought him a printing press and built a theater for him. But he had been cultivating failure with the care of an agronomist since leaving home. He must surely have seen this first book as a means to redeem himself for all the love and affection his parents heaped upon him, particularly the mother who had placed so much faith in him.

L. Frank Baum, c. 1901.

And so, when L. Frank Baum received a copy of Mother Goose In Prose from the publisher, Way and Williams of Chicago, he immediately sent it off to his mom with the following inscription:

"To my first and best friend,
My Mother
I send this first copy I have
received from the publishers
of my first book.
L. Frank Baum
Chicago
Nov. 15th 1897"

At the time, he had been married to his wife, Maud, for fifteen years. No word on what Maud thought about it but, given the eternal conflict between mothers and daughters-in-law, to be relegated to second-class best friend status could not have been pleasing to her.

Yet this copy will definitely please collectors of the works of L. Frank Baum, big time.

Signed and/or inscribed copies of Baum books are quite scarce; he just didn't do it very often. This is a book that in its first edition, first printing is currently selling for $2,750 - $6500. Because of its status as Baum's first book, the first copy from the publisher, the utmost scarcity of Baum inscriptions,  and the fact that the book is inscribed to his mother, this copy - which is without a doubt the nicest, most desirable  copy extant - is being offered for $125,000.

L. Frank Baum And His Popular Books for Children
Promotional poster, 1901.

By 1901, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz had been written and published (1900) and L. Frank Baum had become an industry.

Mama would have been proud.

One puzzle, however, remains. Why is Baum signing his full name at the close of this inscription to his mother? Yes, he was the seventh of nine children but really, was the relationship that distant?

Had Baum, a Methodist, been born Rosenbaum, a Hebraist, I suspect the inscription would have been a bit different.

"To my first and best friend
- as you never let me forget
constantly, constantly -

My Yiddische Mamma
I send this first copy I have
received from the publishers
of my first book.
Are you happy now?

(Yes, I'm wearing the muffler you sent.

No, I am not wearing the galoshes).

Your little grown-up boychick, Frankele.

P.S.: Maud, my dear wife 

 (don't pretend you don't remember),

says hello.

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Images of cover and inscription courtesy of Between the Covers.

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