Denslow's Picture Books

I just picked up a copy of Denslow's House That Jack Built, one of a series of 18 picture books produced by W. W. Denslow in 1903 - 1904.

 The books were an American take on the English "toy books" that had been produced by well known English illustrators such as Walter Crane, Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway.  Around the same time that Denslow was drawing his picture books, L. Leslie Brooke was producing similar stories in England.

Four of the books first appeared in 1902 as a Sunday color supplement in the New York Herald. These were then rewritten in prose and published, along with Denslow's versions of other fairy tales and nursery rhymes. There were new stories as well, including one featuring the Scarecrow and Tin Man. Denslow owned rights to his illustrations of the famous characters, which allowed him to make use of them as he pleased. This was one of the points that led to the breakup of the L. Frank Baum/Denslow collaborations.

The Scarecrow makes a cameo appearance in House That Jack Built, watching a farmer sowing his corn. The original of this illustration has found a good home in the collection of another Oz fan!