Thompson, Gnome King of Oz, Wizard of Oz, 1st/1st 1927
"The Gnome King of Oz", by Ruth Plumly Thompson, Founded on and continuing the Famous Oz Stories by L. Frank Baum, "Royal Historian of Oz", illustrated by John R. Neill, published by Reilly and Lee, 1927, first printing with emerald green cloth, 12 color plates and 16-page gathering.
Patch is the country of the Quilties, a land of seamstresses and quiltmakers; it lies in the Quadling quadrant of Oz. Its people have a serious problem. Their queen, Cross Patch the Sixth, has gone to pieces- literally; small pieces too. To find her successor, the land's Chief Scrapper and Prime Piercer unwind the Spool of Succession, and follow where the golden thread leads. It leads, in this instance, to the Emerald City, where it selects Scraps, the Patchwork Girl of Oz (first introduced in her eponymously titled novel, the seventh Oz book by L. Frank Baum) to be the new queen. The two Quilties, used to resistance from Queens-to-be (it's not that good a job), kidnap Scraps...
The Famous Forty Canon consists of the forty original Oz books published by the Reilly & Lee company of Chicago. These original forty titles span the years 1900 through 1963 and five writers - the most prolific ones being Lyman Frank Baum (of course), the discoverer and then "Royal Historian" of Oz; and his immediate successor, Ruth Plumly Thompson. Between them, they related 33 tales from Oz (14 by LFB and 19 by RPT). Also, with the exceptions of the very first Oz tale 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and the final four, the other 35 Oz tales were all illustrated to perfection by John R. Neill.
John Rea Neill (November 12, 1877 - September 13, 1943) was a magazine and children's book illustrator primarily known for illustrating more than forty stories set in the Land of Oz, including L. Frank Baum's, Ruth Plumly Thompson' s, and three of his own. His pen-and ink drawings have become identified almost exclusively with the Oz series.
He was first commissioned to illustrate "The Marvelous Land of Oz", the second Oz book L. Frank Baum wrote, published in 1904; "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" had been illustrated by W.W. Denslow, with whom Baum argued and lost contact afterward. Originally, Neill's illustrations were slightly reminiscent of Denslow's to bring continuity and familiarity to the character, as the series expanded, Neill brought his own unique flair to the illustrations, showing more artistic representations of the characters as well as beautiful paintings of numerous scenes. In fact, he was later named the Imperial Illustrator of Oz.
Neill continued to illustrate the Oz books after Baum's death, and his artwork was praised for helping give Ruth Plumly Thompson's books "legitimacy" in the eyes of Baum's fans. Neill would eventually succeed Thompson as the designated "Oz historian" and write several books himself. "The Wonder City of Oz", "The Scalawagons of Oz", and "Lucky Bucky in Oz", which debuted each year from 1940 to 1942, were written by Neill for the firm of Reilly & Lee and are considered part of the "Famous Forty". His last work, "The Runaway in Oz" was drafted before his death, however the full illustrations were never finished. Reilly & Lee decided not to publish the manuscript.
US: Priority (c.2-4 days) -------- $14.50
Canada: Priority (c.2-6 weeks) --- $27.50
World: Priority (c.2-8 weeks) ---- $37.50
Condition Report: Hard boards, original green cloth with paper illustration on the front board (some soiling and wear, spine repairs, the back board is slightly wavy and has a vertical dent in the middle); 6.3/4" x 9.1/4", b/w illustrated endpapers [some soiling, the endpapers are creased at the hinges: see photos]; inscription on the token page "Dorothy Pollenz from her Dad 12/25/27"; 282 pages, many b/w text illustrations and full page b/w plates + 12 color plates including frontispiece [all plates are present]; a few corner folds, a few stains, the part of the blank edge of two pages [217 and 219] is ripped off [see photo]; good++ condition.
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"The Gnome King of Oz", by Ruth Plumly Thompson, Founded on and continuing the Famous Oz Stories by L. Frank Baum, "Royal Historian of Oz", illustrated by John R. Neill, published by Reilly and Lee, 1927, first printing with emerald green cloth, 12 color plates and 16-page gathering.
Patch is the country of the Quilties, a land of seamstresses and quiltmakers; it lies in the Quadling quadrant of Oz. Its people have a serious problem. Their queen, Cross Patch the Sixth, has gone to pieces- literally; small pieces too. To find her successor, the land's Chief Scrapper and Prime Piercer unwind the Spool of Succession, and follow where the golden thread leads. It leads, in this instance, to the Emerald City, where it selects Scraps, the Patchwork Girl of Oz (first introduced in her eponymously titled novel, the seventh Oz book by L. Frank Baum) to be the new queen. The two Quilties, used to resistance from Queens-to-be (it's not that good a job), kidnap Scraps...
The Famous Forty Canon consists of the forty original Oz books published by the Reilly & Lee company of Chicago. These original forty titles span the years 1900 through 1963 and five writers - the most prolific ones being Lyman Frank Baum (of course), the discoverer and then "Royal Historian" of Oz; and his immediate successor, Ruth Plumly Thompson. Between them, they related 33 tales from Oz (14 by LFB and 19 by RPT). Also, with the exceptions of the very first Oz tale 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and the final four, the other 35 Oz tales were all illustrated to perfection by John R. Neill.
John Rea Neill (November 12, 1877 - September 13, 1943) was a magazine and children's book illustrator primarily known for illustrating more than forty stories set in the Land of Oz, including L. Frank Baum's, Ruth Plumly Thompson' s, and three of his own. His pen-and ink drawings have become identified almost exclusively with the Oz series.
He was first commissioned to illustrate "The Marvelous Land of Oz", the second Oz book L. Frank Baum wrote, published in 1904; "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" had been illustrated by W.W. Denslow, with whom Baum argued and lost contact afterward. Originally, Neill's illustrations were slightly reminiscent of Denslow's to bring continuity and familiarity to the character, as the series expanded, Neill brought his own unique flair to the illustrations, showing more artistic representations of the characters as well as beautiful paintings of numerous scenes. In fact, he was later named the Imperial Illustrator of Oz.
Neill continued to illustrate the Oz books after Baum's death, and his artwork was praised for helping give Ruth Plumly Thompson's books "legitimacy" in the eyes of Baum's fans. Neill would eventually succeed Thompson as the designated "Oz historian" and write several books himself. "The Wonder City of Oz", "The Scalawagons of Oz", and "Lucky Bucky in Oz", which debuted each year from 1940 to 1942, were written by Neill for the firm of Reilly & Lee and are considered part of the "Famous Forty". His last work, "The Runaway in Oz" was drafted before his death, however the full illustrations were never finished. Reilly & Lee decided not to publish the manuscript.
US: Priority (c.2-4 days) -------- $14.50
Canada: Priority (c.2-6 weeks) --- $27.50
World: Priority (c.2-8 weeks) ---- $37.50
Condition Report: Hard boards, original green cloth with paper illustration on the front board (some soiling and wear, spine repairs, the back board is slightly wavy and has a vertical dent in the middle); 6.3/4" x 9.1/4", b/w illustrated endpapers [some soiling, the endpapers are creased at the hinges: see photos]; inscription on the token page "Dorothy Pollenz from her Dad 12/25/27"; 282 pages, many b/w text illustrations and full page b/w plates + 12 color plates including frontispiece [all plates are present]; a few corner folds, a few stains, the part of the blank edge of two pages [217 and 219] is ripped off [see photo]; good++ condition.
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