Glinda of Oz is the fourteenth Land of Oz book written by children’s author L. Frank Baum, published on July 10, 1920. It is the last book of the original Oz series, which was later continued by other authors. Like most of the Oz books, the plot features a journey through some of the remoter regions of Oz; though in this case the pattern is doubled: Dorothy and Ozma travel to stop a war between the Flatheads and Skeezers; then Glinda and a cohort of Dorothy’s friends set out to rescue them.
Summaries
Princess Ozma and Dorothy travel to an obscure corner of the Land of Oz, in order to prevent a war between two local powers, the Skeezers and the Flatheads. The leaders of the two tribes prove obstinate, and are determined to fight in spite of Ozma and Dorothy. Unable to prevent the war, Dorothy and Ozma find themselves imprisoned on the Skeezers’ glass-covered island, which has been magically submerged to the bottom of its lake.
Their situation worsens when the warlike queen Coo-ee-oh, who is holding them captive and who alone knows how to raise the island back to the surface of the lake, loses her battle and gets transformed into a swan, forgetting all her magic in the process, and leaving the inhabitants of the island, with Ozma and Dorothy, trapped at the bottom of the lake. Ozma and Dorothy summon Glinda, who, with help from several magicians and magical assistants, must find a way to raise the island to the surface of the lake again, and liberate its inhabitants.
Frank Baum – Glinda of Oz First Edition Book Identification Points
Please refer to the gallery for detailed images of binding(s) and dust jackets.
| Year | Title | Publisher | First edition/printing identification points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | Glinda of Oz | Reilly & Lee Co., [1920] | First edition. Illustrated by John R. Neill, 279 pages. Textual points: The publisher’s advertisement on the verso of the half-title page lists thirteen titles; the last is Glinda of Oz. On page [280] is an advertisement for the Oz-Man Tales series. Pictorial self-endpapers in black and white. Color plates: 12 full-color inserts with no captions, tipped in facing the title page and pages 44, 100, 108, 140, 152, 164, 172, [212], 244, 260, 276. Binding: various colors of cloth: red, brick-red, blue, gray, dark green, dull medium green, light green, light brown, and tan have been observed. No priority has been established. The fact that copies with Christmas 1920 inscriptions have been found in most of the colors suggests that all colors were issued simultaneously. On the front is a pictorial paper label in colors. The publisher’s name on the spine reads: “Reilly | & Lee”. Dust jacket: Issued in a full-color dust jacket with an identical illustration on the front and back which reproduces the label design. The front flap has a blurb for the book. The back flap lists the Oz books through Glinda of Oz. Size of leaf: 9 by 6 5/8 inches. Thickness of volume: 11/2 inches. Several copies are known with the Copp, Clark Co,. Limited, of Toronto imprint on the spine and title page. Otherwise they are identical with the American first state in light-brown cloth.
Later printings with color plates have been seen with publisher’s advertisements in the front listing titles through The Cowardly Lion of Oz (1923) and through The Hungry Tiger of Oz (1926); printings which are probably still later have no advertisements in the front. Around 1935, the color plates were discontinued. |
Frank Baum – Glinda of Oz First Edition Dust Jacket Identification Points
First edition binding(s) and various Dust Jacket printings identification.
Reference:
- Wikipedia
- Bibliographia Oziana – Haff, Greeme, Martin. 2002
