The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (OZ)

"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum, illustrated by W.W. Denslow. Chicago: George Hill Company: 1900. First edition signed by the author. Baum inscribes on the author list leaf: "'Twas Mr Dooley dear Mr Dooley, / He said: 'I'll live and die in Waukazoo / Mosquitoes charm me/ They cannot harm me / For I am Mr. Dooley-ooley-oo! / August 17th / 1902 / L. Frank Baum." The book is in the second state, and in binding variant C. Included in the lot is a letter of provenance from the granddaughter of the original recipient Dorothy Lake. It explains that her grandmother was 11 years old in 1902 and went on a holiday every summer to Waukazoo on the shores of Lake Michigan. Baum was reportedly charmed by Miss Lake and by the coincidence of meeting a real Dorothy in the same resort area in which he wrote portions of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." Original pictorial cloth stamped in red and green. Leaf with inscription is browned and a little chipped at edges and with a 2-inch closed tear through "A" of "August." Plates and text leaves frayed with some extremity loss. With 22 color plates, missing the two facing pages 80 and 254. Volume has been rebacked to an attractive, presentable condition though boards still remain heavily soiled. Presentation copies of Baum's masterpiece are very scarce on the market, and verse inscriptions particularly so; this is perhaps the only verse inscription available.