Baum, L. Frank.

Hanff/Greene I:1 binding B; Peter Parley to Penrod 111

the first true american fairy tale.

An extremely good and tight copy of a book notoriously found in exceedingly poor condition. The text and plates are in the earliest state thus: a box around the advertisements on page 2; verso of title blank; page 14 line one reads "low wail on ..."; the colophon is composed of eleven lines; the colour plate facing page 34 has two dark marks on the moon; the colour plate facing page 92 has a red horizon. The first state of the binding with the imprint at the foot of the spine is exceedingly rare and few copies are known.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz taught children to look at the elements of wonder and fantasy in their own life and to realise that even modern machines might be transformed into something entirely different. There was a stage musical production which opened in Chicago in 1902, in New York in 1903 and toured until 1911, upon which the 1910 silent film was based. Two other silent films were released in 1921 and 1925, the latter starring Oliver Hardy of Laurel and Hardy, as the Tin Woodman, but it was the 1939 film starring Judy Garland which has passed into legend. This film which has the Kansas scenes shot in black and white and the Oz scenes in colour encountered legal problems which neccesitated a delay in the release date.