Welcome to my blog, featuring various pieces from my collection of Oz books, artwork and memorabilia!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

The Book Collectors Guide to L. Frank Baum & Oz

Earlier this year I men- tioned my excitement and anticipation for this new guide to the works of L. Frank Baum and later Oz authors. Having written a review for the Baum Bugle, I decided to wait a bit before reviewing the book on my blog; but now that the Bugle review has been published, I'll post a capsule review.

In a nutshell, it's a lovely book filled with all kinds of information concerning the works of Baum, his successors, and book publishing of the period. Every title is shown in full color, as well as significant binding changes, and the information for identifying editions and states is clearly presented. A number of rarities are shown, certainly a number of things I've never seen before, and there are essays throughout that juxtaposition Baum's life with his books. The portions dealing with non-Oz books by Baum are particularly handy, as this information hasn't been available in a single source before.

Paul Bienvenue and Robert Schmidt have done a fine job in assembling this book - anyone interested in Oz, Baum's writing, or collecting Oz and related books will find this a very enjoyable resource. It's as entertaining as it is informative, which isn't something that can be said for a lot of bibliographies!

1 comment:

kidlitltd said...

This has been a labor of love for Paul for many years, and I too, was glad to see it's (long) anticipated arrival. The fantastic photos of items rare both by number, and condition are a pleasure to look at, and the concise descriptions make finding any state easy even for the novice. Kudos for a job well done!!!