Our local summer book fair was held this weekend, and this year there were quite a few Oz items in the booths. The highlight was a first edition copy of
Mother Goose in Prose, with an inscription by L. Frank Baum - "2 the 2 VerBecks - (Pa and kid)". This would be Frank VerBeck, who illustrated
A New Wonderland for Baum. I'm afraid this one was not in my price range!
I did pick up a very nice jacketed first of John R. Neill's
Lucky Bucky in Oz, which will be a good upgrade from my previous copy. A feature of the first state dustjacket is the letter from Bucky, printed on the rear flap, urging readers to buy victory bonds and stamps. After all, this was World War II, and as Bucky says, "The Nazis and Japs are harder to beat than the Nomes." !
My other acquisition was not Oz related, but a piece by another artist I collect. H. J. Ford illustrated the
Fairy Book Series of colored fairy books and story books, compiled by Andrew Lang. This drawing is from
The All Sorts of Stories Book, published in 1911. I have a couple other drawings by Ford, from
The Yellow Fairy Book and
The Arabian Nights. His style of dense line work is impressive, and it's always a thrill to run across another piece of his original art!
Our local summer book fair was held this weekend, and this year there were quite a few Oz items in the booths. The highlight was a first edition copy of Mother Goose in Prose, with an inscription by L. Frank Baum - "2 the 2 VerBecks - (Pa and kid)". This would be Frank VerBeck, who illustrated A New Wonderland for Baum. I'm afraid this one was not in my price range!
I did pick up a very nice jacketed first of John R. Neill's Lucky Bucky in Oz, which will be a good upgrade from my previous copy. A feature of the first state dustjacket is the letter from Bucky, printed on the rear flap, urging readers to buy victory bonds and stamps. After all, this was World War II, and as Bucky says, "The Nazis and Japs are harder to beat than the Nomes." !
My other acquisition was not Oz related, but a piece by another artist I collect. H. J. Ford illustrated the Fairy Book Series of colored fairy books and story books, compiled by Andrew Lang. This drawing is from The All Sorts of Stories Book, published in 1911. I have a couple other drawings by Ford, from The Yellow Fairy Book and The Arabian Nights. His style of dense line work is impressive, and it's always a thrill to run across another piece of his original art!
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2 comments:
Very nice! I just started reading the "Crimson Fairy Book" though the edition I have uses mid-century illustrations.
And love the "Lucky Bucky" jacket!
The Fairy Books are fascinating for the sheer quantity of stories compiled.
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