The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Chicago: George M Hill, 1900. First Edition. Hardcover. 1st edition, 1st printing, and of course it’s the fabled 1st binding (thus the 1st issue), a phenomenal, unsung rarity in this state. Near fine, no repair, no glue, no touch–ups, an honest copy and the finest I’ve seen, by far. Gripping the bibliography to strangle the truth from it, I’ll note that the text, plates, title page and binding were all manufactured separately (and not in equal numbers), and then assembled as needed. The earliest text has plentiful printing points that are all 1st state in our copy, as they are in many reprinted copies, some of them comparatively late. The plates are 1st state in our copy but are also seen in copies with other elements reprinted. The back of our title page is blank, as it should be in the 1st edition, but even this state (lacking copyright) was probably sold into 1901. The key point, and the only one that’s definitive (and rare), is the color of the publisher’s imprint at the base of the spine, and on our copy it is green (not red), as it is on all the first copies sold. Let me say this as simply as possible, but not any simpler. With all the nonsense mis–defining “1st edition” the forthright question should always be: Is the book exactly like the book as it was for sale at a retail bookstore on publication day? A walk into your local bookstore on The Wizard’s publication day, would have got you a copy exactly like this one, and you could only have bought a copy exactly like this one, and you could not have bought a copy with the imprint in red until a month, or 2 months or 3 months later. This Wizard of Oz is real. Others aren’t. Near fine. Item #254
Price:
$115,000.00