Lost Princess of Oz, written by L. Frank Baum; illustrated by John R. Neill.  Reilly & Lee: Chicago, copyright 1917,  9.25" x 7" (8vo), 312 pp.  Blue-green cloth with paste-on color cover illustration. Text and graphic printed in black on the spine. Neill’s black-and-white illustrations throughout.  Illustrated front and rear endpapers.  Last title listed on dust jacket is Ozoplaning (1939).

This is another listing from "Nana's Top Shelf," a collection of first editions and other fine volumes collected over a lifetime from estate sales and booksellers across the East Coast and Europe. We are now listing books from our early-edition L. Frank Baum collection.  All of these books are in outstanding condition and suitable for collectors or as investment-grade books.

Step up your Baum/Oz collection with this beautiful NEAR-FINE edition of the Lost Princess.

Condition:  NEAR-FINE.  Binding tight,with both front and rear hinges fully intact and strong.  Cover corners sharp and no edge wear that we can see.  Under dust jacket, cover boards are bright and clean.  Interior pages are also uniformly bright and clean.  Dust jacket condition is VG, with minor fraying at top of spine and a tiny tear (<1/4 in.) at base of spine (see photo).

• About the Book:  “The Lost Princess of Oz is the eleventh canonical Oz book written by L. Frank Baum.  Published on June 5, 1917, it begins with the disappearance of Princess Ozma, the ruler of Oz and covers Dorothy and the Wizard's efforts to find her. The introduction to the book states that its inspiration was a letter a young girl had written to Baum: "I suppose if Ozma ever got hurt or losted, everybody would be sorry."  Dorothy has risen from bed for the day and is seeing to her friends in the Emerald City and notices that Ozma has not awakened yet. Dorothy goes into Ozma's chambers only to find she is not there. Glinda awakens in her palace in the Quadling Country and finds her Great Book of Records and magic tools are missing. She dispatches a messenger to the Emerald City to relay news of the theft. Receiving the news, the Wizard hastily offers his magic tools to assist Glinda, however, these are missing as well. Glinda, Dorothy, and the Wizard organize search parties to find Ozma and the missing magic. Accompanying them are Button-Bright, Trot, and Betsy Bobbin. Dorothy and the Wizard's party begins to search the Winkie Country to the west of the Emerald City."  (from Wikipedia)  
• About the Author:  "Lyman Frank Baum (1856-1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the Oz series, plus 41 other novels (not including four lost, unpublished novels), 83 short stories, over 200 poems, and at least 42 scripts. He made numerous attempts to bring his works to the stage and screen; the 1939 adaptation of the first Oz book became a landmark of 20th-century cinema.  Born and raised in upstate New York, Baum moved west after an unsuccessful stint as a theater producer and playwright. He and his wife opened a store in South Dakota and he edited and published a newspaper. They then moved to Chicago, where he worked as a newspaper reporter and published children's literature, coming out with the first Oz book in 1900... to much critical acclaim and financial success. The book was the best-selling children's book for two years after its initial publication. Baum went on to write thirteen more novels based on the places and people of the Land of Oz."  (from Wikipedia)
• About the Illustrator:  “John Rea Neill (1877-1943) was a magazine and children's book illustrator primarily known for illustrating more than forty stories set in the Land of Oz, including L. Frank Baum's, Ruth Plumly Thompson's, and three of his own. His pen-and-ink drawings have become identified almost exclusively with the Oz series. He did a great deal of magazine and newspaper illustration work which is not as well known today. Originally, Neill's illustrations were slightly reminiscent of Denslow's to bring continuity and familiarity to the characters, although Neill's work in this period was far more reminiscent of the work of his contemporary and friend, illustrator Joseph Clement Coll. Denslow's illustrations had been quite popular. However, as the series expanded, Neill brought his own unique flair to the illustrations, showing more artistic representations of the characters as well as beautiful paintings of numerous scenes. In fact, he was later named the Imperial Illustrator of Oz”  (from Wikipedia)

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