Queen Zixi

Queen Zixi of Ix was L. Frank Baum's only full length fairy tale to be serialized before publication. It was published in monthly installments in the prestigious children's magazine St. Nicholas, prior to being released in book form.

I've just purchased a poster from 1905 advertising this story. Notice how prominently The Wizard of Oz is placed in the verbiage - it's in larger type than anything else on the poster, other than the name of the magazine! This is a clear indication of the familiarity and success of that title, due to both the book and the very successful Broadway show.

For the poster image, the publishers used a color plate illustration from the tale, showing Queen Zixi gazing at her reflection in a stream while wearing the magic cloak....but if you're familiar with the story, you'll know she doesn't achieve the results she was hoping for!

This illustration was also the basis for the book cover, as seen to the right. For this use, the illustration had to be simplified into a bolder, graphic image. The stamping process would have obliterated much of the fine detail in the original drawing.

The poster is in need of a good restoration. When that's done, I'll post some comparison photos!