BAUM, L. Frank.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Chicago: Geo. M. Hill Co., 1900.

First edition, first state of the text, plates, and binding.

A true first printing of Baum’s beloved classic, with the text and plates in first state throughout, and bound in the original pictorial cloth—first state, binding variant B (with no priority established between variants A and B). This is the earliest form in which The Wonderful Wizard of Oz appeared, published by Geo. M. Hill in Chicago in 1900, and illustrated throughout by W. W. Denslow.

One of the most enduring works of American children’s literature, the first edition of Oz is prized not only for its cultural significance, but for its striking production, which helped define the visual landscape of children’s books in the early twentieth century.

Original full green cloth stamped in red and green, "Geo. M. Hill Co." stamped in sans-serif typeface on spine, with "o" not within "C." Illustrated pastedowns in black and grey (front) and black and red (rear). Ads facing title page boxed. 24 full-page color plates, including title page (verso blank); two blots on moon in plate facing p.34, red shading on plate facing p.92. Single-color vignettes (in red, blue, green, grey, yellow, and brown) throughout. Page 14 line one reads "low wail on"; page 81 with "peices"; page [227] begins "While Tin Woodman." Eleven-line boxed colophon.