Annabel, from 1906, was the first of L. Frank Baum's pseudonymous books. This is the only title written by Baum under the Suzanne (or Susanne, depending on the edition) Metcalf name.It's been a while since I read this book, but I remember when I first read this story, I thought the title was a bit strange since the character Annabel doesn't have much to do. However, she does inspire the protagonist so I suppose the title is appropriate!
This book is very difficult to find copies of, and generally quite expensive. My rather worn copy is the second edition, with a new cover design. The first printing was more in the style of Aunt Jane's Nieces and Sam Steele's Adventures - a slightly smaller, simpler book with a paper label on the cover. For Annabel, the label was shaped like a bow.
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I like the book, too. But the ANNABEL title seems very inappropriate to the actual text. Probably some R&B marketing ploy.
Also, for those interested, ANNABEL has been reprinted by Hungry Tiger Press (my company) and is indeed available. So ANNABEL itself is not particularly rare - early printing are rare.
That's a very good point - a new edition of this title is available, along with a number of other rare Baum titles, at www.hungrytigerpress.com
This is a book that got me interested in completing all of Baum's published works in cover variants. I started to accumulate variations after I bought the 1st states, plus the 2nd (1912) ed. back when the internet was new. I used to search "Reilly Britton", and bought 5(!) nice copies in a month. I kept all the states and 2nd edition, and sold the extra copy.
Nice...I think it will be a while until I get a first printing/edition. I didn't realize until recently that there were two different variations on the first cover with the bow-shaped label - one in grey cloth with gilt lettering and another in blue with white lettering.
There is actually a second state...1st state are the 2 covers (blue is a secondary binding), but the same cover was issued with black and white plates, different paper )1st state is laid) and "Reilly & Britton" on the spine (1st state is "The Reilly & Britton Co.)...The DJ exists for the 1st state...it is blue paper with the title, a box with the same blurb as in the ads, blank flaps, and ad on the back...
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