The Silver Princess in Oz was published in 1938 by Reilly & Lee Co. in Chicago as the thirty-second book in the Oz series and the eighteenth written by Ruth Plumly Thompson, who had succeeded L. Frank Baum as Royal Historian of Oz.
The novel was followed by Thompson’s final Oz book, Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz (1939) . Later reprints include a 1996 edition by Books of Wonder and a 2011 facsimile reprint by Literary Licensing. The book entered the public domain in the United States in 1966.
Summary
In this story, young King Randy of Regalia (from Thompson’s The Purple Prince of Oz) is visited by his old friend, Kabumpo, the Elegant Elephant of Pumperdink. Together, they set out to visit their friend Jinnicky the Red Jinn (also from Purple Prince) in the Land of Ev. On the way, they meet Planetty, the silver Princess from Anuther Planet, and her fire-breathing colt, Thun. When they reach Jinnicky’s palace, they find that Jinnicky has been deposed and enchanted by an untrustworthy slave.
Thompson’s novel is notable in that she avoids the use of Baum’s classic characters and relies on those of her own invention (as is true of some of her other later books, like Captain Salt in Oz); and also for the fact that author and artist portray the followers of Jinnicky as turbanned black African slaves, with images and language which today could be considered racist.
The Silver Princess in Oz | First Edition Identification Guide
Please refer to the gallery for detailed images of binding(s) and dust jackets.
| Year | Title | Publisher | First edition/printing identification points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | The Silver Princess in Oz | Reilly & Lee Co., [1938] | First edition. Illustrated by John R. Neill, 255 pages. Textual point: 16-page gatherings. Pictorial endpapers in black and white. The front endpaper is a self-endpaper, rear endpaper is inserted. Binding: various colors of cloth: vermilion, pink (textured), light brown, turquoise, yellow, orange, dark green, light blue-gray, and sky-blue have been reported. Pictorial paper label in colors, with the title, except for the Oz monogram, printed in metallic-silver ink. The spine illustration is of Handy Mandy. Spine imprint in semiscript, “fancy” letters. SECONDARY BINDING: Copies have been reported in red, orange, and sky-blue cloth which are in every respect first states except that they have no spine illustration. Another copy, which also has a first-state text and pictorial label, is in a dark brick-red binding case with a picture of the Tin Woodman (taken from the spine of Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz) on the spine; the inserted rear endpaper is blank. Size of leaf: 8 7/8 by 6 5/8 inches. Thickness of volume: About 1 3/8 inches.
Later printings have 32-page gatherings except the last (8 pages) and blank endpapers, and the lettering of the title on the cover label is in red. Some of these have no spine illustration; others have the illustration of Handy Mandy in Oz. |
The Silver Princess in Oz | First Edition Dust Jacket Identification Guide
First edition binding(s) and various dust jacket printings identification.
Reference:
- Wikipedia
- Bibliographia Oziana – Haff, Greeme, Martin. 2002
