Along the Bosphorus

Last weekend was our local annual book fair. This was the 19th year, and I've attended every one - and I've managed to find a number of items over the years. There was a good amount of Oz related material this year, particularly a number of later reprints in dust jackets.

Here I'm showing a copy of Along the Bosphorus, which is yet another example of a Rand McNally cover design by W. W. Denslow. This is a much more delicate design than some of his other covers, and really gives an excellent sense of moonlight on the water. This copy doesn't bear his seahorse signature. The book is a collection of pieces written by Susan Wallace, the wife of Lew Wallace; he was a general in the Civil War, and the author of Ben-Hur. He was also U.S. Minister to the Ottoman Empire in the 1880s. Susan Wallace was an author of a few books as well, and several of the pieces in this book relate to this time period.

It's interesting to compare this cover to another title from 1898, A Cruise Along the Crescent. Both are set in exotic locales, and the covers have many similarities. Along the Bosphorus is more refined, but the same crescent moon and turrets can be seen in both examples. I think the exotic architecture brings to mind Denslow's illustrations of the Emerald City.

Shifting Sands

Shifting Sands, by Frederic Burton, is another novel published by Rand McNally in 1898 with a cover design by W. W. Denslow. The title feels prophetic, as the Shifting Sands became the name of one of the deserts surrounding the Land of Oz. I doubt that there is any connection between the two, but it's always fun to run across a coincidence of this sort. Tradition has it that L. Frank Baum's final words were "Now we can cross the Shifting Sands".

This is another example of Denslow designing a wrap-around cover. The image carries across the spine to the back, where a small couple stands looking out to sea. Denslow's ubiquitous seahorse signature is at the lower right on the front cover.

Queer Visitors

Sunday Press has produced an impressive volume of the Queer Visitors from the Land of Oz comic pages from 1904-1905. The pages are presented in full color at their original size, which really helps capture the vitality of the vintage pieces. I've always been amazed at the tiny size of the type used for L. Frank Baum's stories, but of course that left more room for the illustrations! These are some of the most ephemeral of Oz items, and it's great to have a sturdy version that will hold up to some handling - antique newsprint is delicate! The inclusion of additional material, like the full run of W. W. Denslow's Scarecrow and the Tinman comic page, is a welcome bonus. http://www.sundaypressbooks.com/index.htm

An interesting point on the original comic pages is the way they were presented by different newspapers. Decorative headers and additional borders were sometimes used, adding to the overall appeal of the pages. The Philadelphia North American was the originator of the page, and their presentation was quite simple, with the addition of an illustrated header. Apparently different papers did different things, resulting in different appearances.

Hidden Faces

John R. Neill created many dazzling illustrations for the Oz series. He was also known for hiding faces in a number of his drawings, adding another level of fun to the books. I think one of his cleverest examples is in Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, from 1908.

In the drawing used for the tailpiece of Chapter 7, (on page 94 in the first edition), we are shown the carriage carrying the travelers through the Black Pit of the Mangaboos. When looked at closely, the right side of the pit reveals silhouette profiles of Zeb, Dorothy and the Wizard, carved out of the rock! They can be a little more difficult to distinguish in some later printings. This is just another example of Ozzy details!

Return to Oz

A couple months ago on eBay, several artifacts from the 1984 Disney production of Return to Oz were put up for auction. I didn't acquire any of the items, but I was very intrigued by a piece of the set that was offered. In the film, there are several close up shots in the ruined Emerald City. One of these shows a statue of a lion holding a scroll with the intertwined OZ logo. Apparently, there were two of these original lions which survived the film. One was auctioned - the second had met its demise some time earlier in a garden, where the weather took its toll.

Seeing the interest stirred by this piece, the seller had the good sense to look into the possibility of having some additional lions made from the original. In the end, 10 lions were produced and I'm now the happy owner of one. The new pieces were cast in resin rather than concrete, and consequently were of lighter weight and a bit easier to deal with than the original. As this was being shipped from England, less weight was a help in holding down costs!

Denslow's Mother Goose

Here's another wonderful piece that doesn't belong to me, although I have seen it in person. The photo is from an auction house listing from quite a while ago - I'm afraid I've forgotten which one!

This is a clockwork display for Denslow's Mother Goose. It is wound with a key, and the head nods while the beak opens and closes. It dates from around 1901, the year that W. W. Denslow's book was published.

I saw this at a New York Book Fair several years ago, in Justin Schiller's booth. It's a very unique piece, believed to have originated at a Chicago department store. It's the only one of its kind known, and really a lot of fun! I like to think of this as an interesting precursor to L. Frank Baum's clockwork man, Tik-Tok - even though there's no real connection between the two.

Graham Rawle

Friday night was the opening of the local exhibition of Graham Rawle's illustrations for The Wizard of Oz. The show is being held at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and features large prints of various illustrations from the book. Some of the images are over six feet wide, and are very impressive at that size! The prints were produced at the college, and unfortunately the show will not be traveling.

Oz Club member Jane Albright flew in for the opening, and club founding member Ruth Berman also attended. Graham Rawle signed books and was generally available to wander through the gallery and answer questions - it was a very fun time. Limited edition prints were available of four different scenes from the book, and four small pinback buttons were handed out. These feature Toto in the poppy field, Mr Joker from the Dainty China Country, a Quadling Guard, and the Soldier with the Green Whiskers from the Emerald City.

The gallery certainly got into the spirit of things by assembling a refresh- ment table of cupcakes that looked like the poppy field with a tall tornado traveling through. A plexi case held the actual figures of the main characters from the story - Dorothy, Toto, Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Cowardly Lion and Wicked Witch of the West. Another case held some of the various tiny beaded flowers which were made by Graham's wife and used in the landscapes; it was a unique opportunity to see the small scale of the original pieces in comparison to the large photo illustrations on the walls.

The exhibit is on display until June 28th. If anyone happens to be in the area, I recommend it!
http://www.grahamrawle.com/index.html

General Jinjur

This illustration from The Marvelous Land of Oz has always been one of my favorites. I would love to see the original if it still exists!

Here we see General Jinjur and her army of revolting girls (typical Baum pun!) conquering the Emerald City. Their glee is unmistakable as they set off to pry all the emeralds loose from their settings, and the chaos of the moment is nicely captured (including one poor girl in the far background who seems to have been flipped over with her feet in the air!) This drawing made me feel I had a real sense of what the Emerald City looked like, with the gate tower and the double stair, and the cluster of houses inside the city wall.

I've always liked General Jinjur. L. Frank Baum created an interesting mix of chorus girl and women's rights advocate in this character. She was clearly designed for presentation on the stage, and Baum shows his eye for theatrical dressing in his description of the multicolored uniform for Jinjur's army. I was always disappointed that she was only shown in one color plate in the book. A similarly gaudy dress is seen in Mary Louise and the Liberty Girls, for the patriotic Liberty Girls organization.

Although Jinjur is a satire, her avowed goal of setting a woman on the throne of the Emerald City does happen - except the new ruler is Ozma rather than herself. Her few appearances in later books show that she maintains her independent spirit, even if she's never the Queen she intended to be.

Graham Rawle Exhibition

I just ran across this, a little late but still in plenty of time to attend. An exhibition at my alma mater of Graham Rawle's artwork for The Wizard of Oz - this should be fun!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 7, 2009
THE WIZARD OF OZ: ACCORDING TO GRAHAM RAWLE
MCAD Gallery | Minneapolis College of Art and Design
May 22–June 28, 2009

MINNEAPOLIS—Explore the extraordinary imagination of acclaimed British artist and author Graham Rawle in the dazzling exhibition THE WIZARD OF OZ: ACCORDING TO GRAHAM RAWLE, opening Friday, May 22 in MCAD Gallery.
Inspired by his vividly re-imagined retelling of L. Frank Baum's original classic The Wizard of Oz (Counterpoint Press, 2008), this exhibition lifts Rawle's breathtaking illustrations from the printed page, presenting them in large scale for the first time anywhere.
Using handcrafted miniature sets, carved sculptures, found objects and other unusual materials (such as Pringles cans and spraypainted asparagus), Rawle's dynamic and oftentimes surreal illustrations include original characters and scenes that will be revelatory to those who are more familiar with the cinema classic.
Rawle's illustrations will amaze children and adults alike. They're endearing yet edgy, delightful yet dark—the same qualities found in only the most treasured and iconic children's fiction. THE WIZARD OF OZ: ACCORDING TO GRAHAM RAWLE is not to be missed!

Meet Graham Rawle in person!

Graham Rawle will join us from London to celebrate the opening of this remarkable exhibition on Friday, May 22, from 6 to 9 p.m. in MCAD's Main Gallery, located on the first floor of MCAD's Main Building. Copies of The Wizard of Oz will be available for purchase and signing by the artist at this event. Don't miss this rare opportunity to meet the artist and get up-close to his work!
Want a sneak peek?
Visit www.mcad.edu/oz for a gallery of some of the amazing images featured in the exhibition, along with a link to Graham Rawle's Web site and a specially animated short film that brings the book's characters to life.

Praise for The Wizard of Oz, illustrated by Graham Rawle

"[Rawle's] illustrations are vivid constructs that come alive in the strangest ways."
— The Los Angeles Times
"Rawle's freakingly cool images definitely [have] me wanting more. ... Trippy stuff."
— Cinematical

Phono-Movies

Today I'm showing something that is not in my collection, although it's some- thing I'd love to have!

This is an example of an early Oz toy, called a Phono-Movie. The concept is simple: a gadget attaches to a phonograph, with a jointed figure which dances to the music as the record rotates. In this particular case, two figures were included: a stereotypical African-American character, and the Scarecrow of Oz! The box states that the toy was patented in 1919, which was during one of the heights of Oz popularity — but I suppose this version with the Scarecrow figure could be from a later date. These pictures are from an old eBay auction, and I've also seen the toy listed in a book on vintage phonographs and related accessories.

This might be a project that L. Frank Baum's eldest son Frank was involved with. Frank Baum did try to capitalize on his father's creations, but didn't seem to have much luck. His Oz Doll & Toy Manufacturing Company didn't succeed with a line of Oz dolls. Oz toys just don't seem to have caught on with the public; an earlier toy Woozy character produced by the family also failed.

Adaptations

I'm afraid I've been neglecting my blog entries, but it's been a hectic few weeks here. We've been moving our studio to a new location after being settled for 20 years, and I've spent more time transporting boxes and painting than anything else!

In 1961, Dick Martin illustrated adaptations of the first 4 Oz books for Reilly & Lee. I have three of these, but I'm missing The Wizard of Oz which seems to be the hardest to find. I've always had mixed feelings toward Martin's work, but these books are energetic and a lot of fun.

The illustration on the right shows Ozma entering the Nome King's ornament room, and is a good example of the colorful style used by the artist. The array of knick-knacks is amusing, and Ozma herself is wearing a slightly bizarre martial cockade of a headdress, very different from what is usually seen. These books were adapted by Jean Kellogg, who also adapted several of L. Frank Baum's Queer Visitors From the Marvelous Land of Oz comic pages for the book The Visitors From Oz. This was published in 1964 with Dick Martin illustrations as well.

I was struck by a drawing in Ozma of Oz of the Scarecrow egging the Nome King. It could be coinci- dental, but the overall layout of the illustration really calls to my mind the unused Dale Ulrey drawing for the same scene. I can't help wondering if Dick Martin was familiar with that piece - considering his connections with Reilly & Lee and the Oz enthusiasts of the time, it would be very possible.

Phoebe Tilson

Phoebe Tilson is another Rand McNally title with a W. W. Denslow cover design. This time around Denslow has created a delicate image, very different from some of the bold covers he came up with for this company. The simple drawing of a highchair, locket and closed window with cobweb and geranium plant wraps around the covers and spine of the book.
This is also an example of a cover without Denslow's seahorse logo, which makes me think it's a later printing.

This is also another title with a poster in the collection of the New York Public Library, shown at the right. It makes an interesting comparison since the poster focuses primarily on the figure of a woman, presumably Phoebe, and the book cover gives the impression of a deserted room. It makes a fascinating contrast. It's clearly the same window and geranium! I'll have to read the book to see how both images relate to the story.

Fifth of November

A while back I featured a W. W. Denslow cover for a book published by Rand McNally called The Fifth of November. I've recently picked up a second copy of this book. This one is a different binding state, as Denslow's seahorse signature is not on the cover. It can be seen on my first copy, (shown above on the right) on the left of the barrel design. I'm surprised by how many of these books seem to have removed Denslow's logo on later bindings/printings - I don't really understand why they would go to the bother.

This later binding is also of a lighter cloth color than the original. The stamping is in brown rather than a deep purple/red, and a small illustration of the headsman's mask and ax has been deleted from the back cover.

The original poster for this book, which I'm showing on the right, is in the collection of the New York Public Library and can be seen online in their digital collection. It's interesting to compare the differences between the poster and the book cover. The book very successfully combines the main elements of the poster into a single simple image.

Aunt Jane's Nieces - Again

A while back, I showed two variations of the cover of Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work. The first was the original cover which included a shield and blue printing, and the second was a later printing that modified the cover and eliminated those details. I've picked up another variation, this time a possible binder's error. Instead of using the At Work paste-down, the design for Aunt Jane's Nieces in Society has been glued to the cover. There are many unusual variations/mistakes of this sort in Reilly & Britton books, and it's always fun to run across fresh examples. I thought this would be appropriate for April Fool's Day!

According to The Books Collectors Guide to L. Frank Baum and Oz, this copy is a 6th printing and would date from around 1915. Label mix-ups of this sort did happen, and I would imagine they might be more prevalent in late copies of the Aunt Jane books if the publishers were using up whatever stock of labels they had on hand. When the company became Reilly & Lee in 1919, they quickly stopped using any cover labels on these titles.

Pseudonyms

L. Frank Baum wasn't the only one to work for Reilly & Britton under a pseudonym. John R. Neill illustrated at least one book under the name Ivin Ney - as to why, I really can't imagine! A Knight of the Wilderness was published in 1909, and contains 6 color plates by Neill under the assumed name. The book deals with Abraham Lincoln's years in Illinois. After a little thought, the pseudonym does make some sense - it's a kind of Russian-ized version of his real name (Ivin/John, Ney/Neill).

I don't know of any other examples of Neill working under this alias. 1909 was a busy year for him, with The Road to Oz and the start of the Neill Gift Book series of poetry books. Maybe Reilly & Britton was worried about too much exposure in various genres for their popular Oz artist. The ink and wash style of the illustrations for A Knight of the Wilderness is very much in line with the poetry books or Neill's magazine work of the time, as opposed to his Oz drawings.

Caroline Siedle Part 2

This past weekend in New York, I viewed the exhibit Curtain Call at the New York Public Library for Performing Arts. It's an impressive show, with many costume, lighting and set designs as well as actual costumes from theater productions over the past 100 years or so. The exhibition is celebrating the work of women in the technical aspects of the theater, contributions that are often overlooked especially in the early days. Unfortunately, photos were not permitted in the gallery but I did find the image above online at broadwayandme.blogspot.com.

My particular interest was to see costume drawings by Caroline Siedle, who designed the costumes for the 1903 New York production of The Wizard of Oz. There was a nice display of about 16 of her drawings on one wall, as well as a tunic believed to be from an actual costume, although not from Oz. Unfortunately, the information given for Seidle is not terribly good - several costumes are called out as being from The Wizard that I'd be fairly certain are not. A lovely design of a floral costume is labeled as a poppy, when it's clearly a pansy. A costume for a young girl in a large sunbonnet, with a blue-checked dress is labeled as a Wizard design - it's easy to see how this could be confused with Dorothy from the book, but it certainly isn't the stylish young woman that Dorothy was in the musical. A similar design for a country boy in a straw hat is also listed for the Wizard — I think both credits may be wrong.

For those with more current Oz interests, one of the dresses worn by Glinda in Wicked is on display, as well as two of Susan Hilferty's costume drawings for Glinda and Elphaba.

I also picked up a copy of the softcover book written to accompany the show. It can't really be called a catalog since there is no list of all the items in the exhibition, but eight Siedle drawings are shown, including one I don't recall seeing on display. This is a very fun design for a costume and hat with a bumblebee motif, again credited for The Wizard of Oz. Again, I'm doubtful whether this was designed for that particular show.

Siedle designed many costumes for a number of shows, including Babes in Toyland and other extravaganzas. There is little information available on this highly talented woman, and her career was cut short by an early death. Some of the drawings on display bear the stamp of the Metropolitan Opera, where her husband was a prop master. The girl and boy mentioned above and a couple other designs by Siedle, as well as several other women, can be seen at this link - http://www.nypl.org/news/articles/?article_id=255
If anyone is in the area, it's a fascinating exhibit, running until May 2nd.

More Oz Color

While I'm on the topic, here are a couple more examples of color shifts/changes within printings of color illustrations in the Oz books.

One of the best known changes is in The Emerald City of Oz. The earliest printings used an additional color of ink, green metallic, on the color plates to help create an Ozzy feeling. Later printings dropped the extra ink, leaving white areas within the plates. Fortunately, in most cases the green ink was used as a minor embellishment, and the images hold together quite well. In some cases. you actually see more detail without the green ink.


In the case of the illustration to the right, dropping the green ink meant losing the border of the image. This isn't a vital part of the illustration itself, but there is a lot of humor in the missing words. To the best of my knowledge, illustrator John R. Neill devised the nonsense words himself, without the assistance of L. Frank Baum. It reads:

Soandso, and soandso, oh yes, I don't know it might be so I calculate but I don't know, intre mintry cuteycorn appleseeds and fly away Jack. Six sixes are not sixty-six? And we still hold to folderol de doodle all day, if I had a donkey that wouldn't go I'd buy a fiddle for fifty cents and rattle his bones over the stones it's only a beggar whom nobody owns, listen??

The character shown talking to the Wizard is from Rigmarole Town, where people talk in circles. I think Neill grasped this pretty well!

Ozma of Oz was printed with color illustrations for many years, and there is a definite shift towards brighter color in later editions. Shown above are the frontispiece from a first state copy (left) and a 1920's edition (right). Ozma looks like she's been in the sun a little too long in the later printing, and can sometimes be very blotchy. Part of the reason for this is that the early printings were on a smoother paper stock. By the 1920's, the Oz books were being printed on a much pulpier paper which soaked up more ink, resulting in brighter and harsher color.

In the image to the right, a similar result can be seen with the earlier plate on the left and the later on the right.

Oz Color

Later printings of The Wizard of Oz saw more than just changes in color plates; the color printing used throughout the text was also affected. A prime example can be seen in these two images.

The first is from an early Bobbs-Merrill printing, and the second is from a later Donohue printing. The Bobbs-Merrill pages are printed in a darker green ink than was originally used, making the text more difficult to read — but at least the entire image is there.

Donohue was a cheaper reprint house that leased the plates for the book, and turned out less expensive editions. One of their ways of saving money was to minimize the use of color throughout the book — one of the most unique features of the original edition! By dropping the green out of this text illustration, the image no longer makes any sense. Personally, I think they were cheating their customers; perhaps they should have been prevented from turning out such unattractive editions of this book!

Color Plates

It's not strange for color plates to vary in tone in various printings of Oz books. Accidental changes can happen from one printing to the next, and sometimes deliberate changes are made, especially when trying to cut publishing costs.

The example above shows how drastic changes can happen when a book changes publisher. The illustration by W. W. Denslow shows Dorothy and friends meeting the Cowardly Lion for the first time, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. On the left is the original version of this color plate, as published by George M. Hill in the first edition. The center image shows the change that happened when Bobbs-Merrill began publishing The New Wizard of Oz. The color plates in the new edition lost much of the original clean brightness seen in the Hill edition, and became slightly muddied. The final plate is from a 1939 copy of The Wizard of Oz, also published by Bobbs-Merrill. This plate does have three colors in it, but it hardly seems worth the bother!

An interesting, and I think more unusual, change happened during the print runs of The Marvelous Land of Oz. Around the 4th state, the color plates became much brighter than in earlier issues. Off hand, I don't think any other Oz books published by Reilly & Britton had this kind of dramatic alteration. The publishers must have felt that the brighter colors were more appropriate to the story.

Incidentally, this illustration is another example of John R. Neill using curtains for dramatic effect!

Valentine

This is a little late for Valentine's Day, but I've just purchased another postcard. This was offered on eBay recently, and I couldn't pass it up as it's one of the more unusual valentines I've seen!

This is a handmade card, undated but certainly vintage, perhaps from the 1920's. The creator has cut the figure from one of W. W. Denslow's Thanksgiving postcards and added a heart to make it holiday appropriate.

Something about the leering man with his ax, eyeing up the heart, makes one wonder why someone thought this made a good valentine. Personally, I think it's hysterical; it just needs "or else" added! It gets better on the reverse, as this was apparently given to Will from Jack. I suppose it was an alternative to anything too romantic...or maybe Jack was sending Will a message!