DISCOUNTED scarce 1903 1st Ed THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ Pictures from DENSLOW

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DISCOUNTED scarce 1903 1st Ed THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ Pictures from DENSLOW:
$275.00

Pictures From The Wonderful Wizard of OzVery Rare First Edition Oz Book with Artwork of
One Time Only Oz Artist W.W. Denslow
Who Split with Author L. Frank Baum
Believing His Art Was the Reason for the Success
George W. Oglivie & Co. , 1903. FIRST EDITION. Exceedingly rare and among earliest publications in the legendary Wizard of Oz bibliography.
And, this one has quite a back story to go with its creation.
“Pictures from the Wonderful World of Oz”by W. W. Denslowincluding“A Story Telling the Adventures of the Scarecrow and Tin Man“ and “The Little Girl”by Thomas. H Russell
It is the twenty-two (22) full page color illustrations by original Oz artist Denslow where the intrigue begins. . . .
This rare publication was the result of a quarrel between Oz creator L. Frank Baum and W. W. Denslow - both claimed chief responsibility for the phenomenal success of their publications including “The Wondereful Wizard of Oz” published in 1900. They could not settle their differences and as the owner of the illustrations when original Oz publisher George M. Hill Co. went bankrupt in 1902, George W. Oglivie & Co. acquired the uncut sheets of Denslow’s color plates and issued twenty two of them with text printed on their reverse side. This truly remarkable part of the earliest Oz history has all 22 Denslow plates present inside the original cloth backed pictorial wrappers as issued.
Rare in complete original condition as here!
Very good condition overall, front and back covers are creased with edge wear, former owner inscription, 3” closed tear on front, number of pages have small nicks, tears and bumped corners, page 9 has a 4” closed tear approximately 2” from the bottom of the page, and page 15 has 3/4” tear approximately 2” from the bottom of the page. The publication has a total of 43 pages including the 22 full page W. W. Denslow color plates. Interestingly, front cover artwork depicts Fred Stone and Dave Montgomery in their roles from the 1902 Wizard of Oz musical.
Needless to say, with few complete copies remaining in existence of this iconic publication, this would make a spectacular gift or addition to any Oz or childrens rare book collection.