BAUM, L. FRANK. 1856-1919.
INSCRIBED TO DOROTHY OF WAUKAZOO.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Chicago: George M. Hill Co., 1900. Illustrated by W.W. Denslow. Small 4to. Original pictorial cloth stamped in red and green. Leaf with inscription is browned and a little chipped at edges, a 2-inch closed tear through "A" of "August," old penciling. Volume is in poor condition, detached from binding, plates and text leaves frayed with losses, cloth heavily soiled and worn, sold as is.
First edition, presentation copy of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, signed by the author and inscribed with a verse on the recto of author list leaf: "'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." The book is in the second state, and in binding variant C.
Fantastic, light-hearted inscription to a young reader of Baum's greatest work, the first Oz book. A letter signed by the granddaughter of the original recipient is present with this lot. It explains that her grandmother, Dorothy Lake, was 11 years old in 1902. She vacationed with her family every July and August in 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 Wizard of Oz.
Presentation copies of Baum's masterpiece are very scarce on the market, and verse inscriptions particularly so. Hanff & Greene I.
See illustration.
