The Wishing Horse of Oz 1935 | First Edition Identification Guide – Golden Age Children's Book Illustrations

The Wishing Horse of Oz (1935) is the twenty-ninth in the series of Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the fifteenth written by Ruth Plumly Thompson. It was Illustrated by John R. Neill. This book marked the point at which Thompson had written more Oz books than Baum himself.

Summary

Thompson - Wishing Horse Of Oz 1935 First Printing — *Wishing Horse of Oz 1935 first printing*

This Oz mystery starts in the small, poor kingdom of Skampavia, where King Skamperoo wishes for a horse using enchanted emerald necklaces. When Chalk, a talking Horse from Oz, falls from the sky, Skamperoo decides the emeralds must be from the Emerald City, and decides to conquer all of Oz. He magically causes all the residents of Oz to forget their rightful rulers and accept him as their emperor instead. Only Dorothy and Pigasus, the flying pig, are able to remember Princess Ozma, the true ruler of Oz, and together they set out to rescue her. The mystery in this story is how to make the necklaces grant wishes; only the horse Chalk knows how to do this.

This was the last Oz book to feature illustrations in color, and only the first edition and the International Wizard of Oz Club edition (1990) have them.

The Wishing Horse of Oz First Edition Book Identification Points

Please refer to the gallery for detailed images of binding(s) and dust jackets.

Ruth Plumly Thompson - The Wishing Horse of Oz 1935 First Edition Identification Guide
Year	Title	Publisher	First edition/printing identification points
1935	The Wishing Horse of Oz	Reilly & Lee Co., [1935]	First edition. Illustrated by John R. Neill, 297 pages. *Textual points:* Blank self-endpapers. *Color plates:* 12 full-color inserts, some bound in, some tipped in. Plates face title page (tipped in), and pages 48 and 65 (bound in), 96 (tipped in), 128 (tipped in), 160 and 177 (bound in), 192 (tipped in), 224 and 241 (bound in), 272 and 289 (bound in). The plates are coated only on the printed side. *Binding:* various colors of cloth have been reported including very dark green (both textured and untextured), greenish-gray (textured), light blue, medium blue, dark blue, lavender, coral, maroon (textured), dark red, and purplish-brown. Copies in coral, maroon, dark red and light, medium and dark blue have been noted with headbands of black-and-white striped fabric. Other copies have no headbands. There is no known priority among these variants; all color-plate copies are assumed to be of the first state. Pictorial paper label in colors. Spine imprint is in semi-script, “fancy” letters. *Size of leaf:* 9 by 6 5/8 inches. Thickness of volume: 1 1/2 inches. Later Printings Later copies lack color plates. This is the only Reilly & Lee Oz book that never had its own illustrated endpapers, although at least one late reprint contains pictorial endpapers from The Tin Woodman of Oz.

The Wishing Horse of Oz First Edition Dust Jacket Identification Points

First edition binding(s) and various dust jacket printings identification.

Thompson - Wishing Horse of Oz 1935 first printing DJ
Ruth Plumly Thompson - Wishing Horse of Oz 1935 first printing DJ | First Edition Identification Points

Thompson - Wishing Horse of Oz 1935 first printing
Ruth Plumly Thompson - Wishing Horse of Oz 1935 first printing | First Edition Identification Points