First state, early copy. (Matches all first-state points except for early state printing errors on pages 34 and 121; and the presence of both the caption and numeral present on page 129.) Published by Reilly & Britton. Illustrated in black and white by John R. Neill. 261 color-tinted pages.
First State Points
Light green pictorial fine-grained cloth cover stamped with red and dark green text. Green text on the spine with the publisher’s name in capital and lowercase letters and a depiction of Toto’s face. The back cover features profile silhouettes of Ozma and Dorothy in a sunburst. Pictorial tan pastedowns with red accents. Includes two pages of advertisements. The first lists the titles published under the pseudonym Laura Bancroft. The second lists three prior books in the series as well as John Dough and the Cherub. The tinted gatherings are arranged in the following order: off-white (1-32), lavender (33-64), gray (65-96), light blue (97-128), salmon (129-160), tan (161-192), light green (193-256), and tan (257-264).
Condition
No dust jacket. Detached binding. Separation of spine. Bumped and rubbed corners and edges. Significant bleaching of front and back covers. Appears to be black ink drops on the back cover (it does not appear to be mold). Ink smudges throughout the first and final several pages, though not concealing text. Previous owner’s name on front flyleaf (Marilynn Fleming). Pencil underlining on p. 217. A stain (~.5cm) bleeds through the top of p. 200-206. Tears are as follows: Approx. .5cm closed tear on front flyleaf; ~2cm closed tears on p. 134 and 200; ~3.5cm closed tear on p. 30; ~3.5 x 7cm open tear on p. 73, just reaching text, which remains readable; ~3.5cm open tear across the corner of p. 135. Creasing on many bottom corners. Significantly soiled text block. Page tint faded/toned, most notably the lavender gathering. However, all pages are present and free of writing. The salmon and blue pages are especially vivid. Not a former library book. First edition, first printing, first state, early copy.
scarcity rating: 3+
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