“…FOR THE WORLD IS FULL OF WONDERS”: RINKITINK IN OZ, FIRST EDITION

BAUM, L. Frank. Rinkitink in Oz. Chicago: Reilly & Britton, (1916). Thick octavo, original light blue cloth, mounted cover illustration, pictorial endpapers; housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. $3750.

First edition, first printing, of Baum’s tenth Oz title, the tale of a young prince’s quest to free his people, richly illustrated by John R. Neill with 12 tipped-in color plates and numerous black-and-white illustrations, many full-page.

Under pressure from his publishers to deliver a certain commercial success in uncertain economic times, "Baum took a circa 1906 non-Oz manuscript, King Rinkitink, and turned it into one of his most exciting Oz books by adding a new conclusion" (Douglas & David Greene 100). "The 'de-Oz ex machina' intervention of Dorothy and the Wizard in the final chapters… is an anticlimax after the reader follows the bravery and resourcefulness of [new character] Prince Inga… Nonetheless, had Baum not recycled the story in this way, it is almost certain that the tale of King Rinkitink would have been lost" (Bienvenue, 67). The title character has influenced other authors' imaginations, including a young Frederick Buechner; the future novelist found in Rinkitink "a wisdom [he] regards as timeless: 'Never question the truth of what you fail to understand, for the world is full of wonders" (Brown, 131). First edition, without publisher's advertisement and with all color plates called for by Hanff & Greene. Without the extremely scarce original dust jacket, but with the rear flap from the dust jacket laid in. Hanff & Greene, 70-71. Bienvenue, 68. Gift inscription dated Christmas from the year of publication.

A few instances of mild staining to text, plates fresh and bright; cloth in unusually bright and crisp condition. A nearly fine copy.