The Wonderful Wizard of Oz — The Denslow Illustrated Edition (eBook)

Before the movie, there was the book — and it is stranger, funnier, and better. This is L. Frank Baum's 1900 original, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, complete and unabridged, with W. W. Denslow's revolutionary art restored from the first edition: the full-page color plates, Denslow's designed title page, and his chapter-title pages, printed the way readers first saw them in 1900.

And yes — the shoes are silver. In Baum's book Dorothy wears the Silver Shoes of the Wicked Witch of the East, the Winged Monkeys have a story of their own, the Wizard appears in four different forms, and the journey continues for half a book after the point where the film wraps up. A full appendix, "Book vs Film," walks through the differences.

This Companion Classics edition adds a complete reading apparatus: an introduction on Baum and Denslow's famous "seesaw" partnership, a Who's Who, five explainers (the 1900 Hill edition and its color design, Denslow's art-nouveau style, Baum's road to Oz, America in 1900, and a map of the thirteen Oz books that followed), a short life of Baum, a note on the period, and discussion questions for every part of the book.

Inside: the complete 1900 text (24 chapters, about 39,000 words) • 23 full-page Denslow plates restored from the first edition, including the frontispiece • Denslow's title page and chapter-title designs • introduction, Who's Who, 5 explainers, short life of Baum • "Book vs Film" appendix • 26 discussion questions.

An independent edition of a public-domain work; not affiliated with Warner Bros. or the MGM film.