h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In 1913 L. Frank Baum wrote six short stories about Oz characters, which were first issued a seperate booklets, then collected into a single volume in 1914 as Little Wizard Stories of Oz. The illustrations are by John R. Neill, and are almost all in color. I believe there may be an edition in print today. Reilly & Britton were the original publishers.

Stephen

My copy of LWSoO was published in 1985 by Schocken Books, which was absorbed by Random House two years later and is now primarily a publisher of Jewish materials. (A search for "Baum" puts you into the Random House catalog, and consists mostly of the Del Ray paperback editions from the 80's.) I don't know who might have the publishing rights at the moment. You could check Books of Wonder and/or the International Wizard of Oz Club for possibilities.

Baum's attempt to end the Oz series in 1910 with "...Emerald City..." failed due to public demand and the demands of his creditors. (He'd declared bankruptcy in 1911 in part because of the collapse of his film/movie enterprises.) (Nice entry on the Larry Semon film, btw.)

The return of the Oz books in 1913 - "The Patchwork Girl of Oz" - was coupled with a massive publicity campaign by Reilly & Britton, for which the "Little Wizard Stories..." were created. They were designed to appeal to a younger audience than the main series, and because of this, the publishers were very strict in their demands for re-writes. All of Baum's original drafts were 'sanitized" of the sorts of things that might scare a young child like the Grimm tales did/do. All in all, Baum didn't seem to mind; but he did object to Neill being chosen to illustrate the stories: he was of the opinion that his audience no longer cared for Neill's work.

Fortunately for us, he was overruled.

[Since I only have a second left, Stephen, let me acknowledge the similarities in our tastes. I've got a link to your "Krazy Kat" entry in my in-the-works-forever "archy and mehitabel" entry. And thanks for the "Little Nemo" one, as well. Wanna flip coins for who does "Gertie the Dinosaur", "Oswald Rabbit" and suchlike? What else does the Guide need like this? Are we in danger of slowly moving towards a University Project on Early 20th Century Animation, a great chunk of which you've already written?]

Ill-thought out and rambling, but I'm very rushed. TTYS.

-7rob7

My copy of Little Wizard Stories is also the Schocken edition; our tastes do seem to run together, don't they? I'm pretty sure that Books of Wonder has issued an edition.
I don't recall if I mentioned it, but W.W. Denslow was a prominent early member of the Roycroft colony. He was doing work for the Roycrofters at the same time as he was illustrating The Wizard. I have an entry on the Roycrofters if you're interested.
I read once that Baum had suggested Winsor McCay as a replacement for Neill - what might that have been like?
I'm mulling over which parts of animation history I might do. I choose subjects for Guide entries very much at random. Whatever catches my eye, really. Maybe Terrytoons next? I'm undecided.

Stephen

Oo-oo: that'd be "Terrrrrrrrrrific!" ("...and Mighty Manfred, the Wonder Dog!")

Hmmm: somebody else who wears a funnel for a hat. I dunno, man, a rut is beginning to suggest itself...

Anything in the Guide about Jay Ward?

I'll have to check on Jay Ward; "hey, Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!"
I saw Tom Terrific on Captain Kangaroo when I was a kid. Tom was easily the best Terrytoon series made while Gene Deitch was running the studio. Good stories, decent animation...I don't usually get nostalgic for my childhood, but in this case...(sigh)

Stephen