Dot and Tot of Merryland (Inscribed first edition, with MS page)
- SIGNED
- Chicago: Geo. M. Hill Co, 1901
Chicago: Geo. M. Hill Co, 1901. First edition. Fine. Small quarto (8 5/16 x 6 3/8 inches; 211 x 162 mm.). [viii], [13]-225, [226], [2, blank] pp. Inscribed on recto of advertisement leaf "To the coming man if / not already came) / Harold McGrath / with the most obstinate / admiration of his friend / L Frank Baum. / Chicago / September / 6th 1901". Publisher's pictorial tan cloth. Front cover pictorially decorated in red, black and gilt, rear cover pictorially decorated in red and black, spine decorated in red and black. Original pictorial endpapers in red, black and tan, front free endpaper chipped at edge. The front hinge and the spine extremities and corners have been expertly restored. Affixed to the verso of the front free endpaper is a folded page of the original manuscript containing the first twenty lines of page 196. Housed in a felt-lined quarter black morocco over black cloth clamshell case, spine with five raised bands decoratively ruled and lettered in gilt in compartments. A fantastic presentation copy to a fellow major author where L. Frank Baum has included a fine page of his original manuscript.
Affixed to the verso of the front free endpaper is a folded page of the original manuscript containing the first twenty lines of page 196.
"I am sure of that, Mr. Split," answered / the Queen.
Dot and Tot had been so astonished / at all this that they had stood / perfectly still[without speaking,] / and (without) noticing this Mr. Split came / toward them [and,](with his key raised) raising his key, / (and said) he asked, briskly: /
"Where are your key[-] holes[,] my dears? / You must have run down."
"Oh, no!" cried Dot, shrinking back; / "We're--we're alive!" /
"Oh, that is different," returned the / man, with a laugh. "I'm glad / you are not to be wound up, for I / am so busy now that there ought / to be three or four of me instead /
of two." / "You're funny," remarked Tot, who / had been staring at Mr. Split. /
"Thank you, sir," replied the man, / bowing politely. /
"What are you made of?" asked the / [boy, curiously.] p. 196 the first twenty lines.
Dot and Tot of Merryland was written after Baum wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The story follows the adventures of a little girl named Evangeline "Dot" Freeland after she is sent to her rich father's country estate Roselawn to improve her health. She befriends gardener's son "Tot" Thompson, and the two are accidental transported to the magical country of Merryland. Merryland is made of seven valleys, arranged in a circular pattern connected by a river running through them, and each valley is populated by different magical beings (cats, dolls, candy, etc). Unlike The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dot and Tot of Merryland contained no tipped in color plates, but was filled with colored text illustrations, including four full page pictures, all by W. W. Denslow who had illustrated the three previous Baum books.
The book is inscribed to Harold MacGrath (1871–1932), a best-selling and American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter, who began his career as a reporter for the Syracuse Herland. MacGrath was Harold MacGrath writing across genres--including romance, mystery, and adventure--to popular success." MacGrath was one of the first nationally-known authors to write directly for the movies when the American Film Company hired him in 1912 to do the screenplay for a short Western. Eventually, eighteen of his novels and three short stories were made into films (three more were made into Broadway plays)" (Syracuse University). Fine.
Affixed to the verso of the front free endpaper is a folded page of the original manuscript containing the first twenty lines of page 196.
"I am sure of that, Mr. Split," answered / the Queen.
Dot and Tot had been so astonished / at all this that they had stood / perfectly still[without speaking,] / and (without) noticing this Mr. Split came / toward them [and,](with his key raised) raising his key, / (and said) he asked, briskly: /
"Where are your key[-] holes[,] my dears? / You must have run down."
"Oh, no!" cried Dot, shrinking back; / "We're--we're alive!" /
"Oh, that is different," returned the / man, with a laugh. "I'm glad / you are not to be wound up, for I / am so busy now that there ought / to be three or four of me instead /
of two." / "You're funny," remarked Tot, who / had been staring at Mr. Split. /
"Thank you, sir," replied the man, / bowing politely. /
"What are you made of?" asked the / [boy, curiously.] p. 196 the first twenty lines.
Dot and Tot of Merryland was written after Baum wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The story follows the adventures of a little girl named Evangeline "Dot" Freeland after she is sent to her rich father's country estate Roselawn to improve her health. She befriends gardener's son "Tot" Thompson, and the two are accidental transported to the magical country of Merryland. Merryland is made of seven valleys, arranged in a circular pattern connected by a river running through them, and each valley is populated by different magical beings (cats, dolls, candy, etc). Unlike The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dot and Tot of Merryland contained no tipped in color plates, but was filled with colored text illustrations, including four full page pictures, all by W. W. Denslow who had illustrated the three previous Baum books.
The book is inscribed to Harold MacGrath (1871–1932), a best-selling and American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter, who began his career as a reporter for the Syracuse Herland. MacGrath was Harold MacGrath writing across genres--including romance, mystery, and adventure--to popular success." MacGrath was one of the first nationally-known authors to write directly for the movies when the American Film Company hired him in 1912 to do the screenplay for a short Western. Eventually, eighteen of his novels and three short stories were made into films (three more were made into Broadway plays)" (Syracuse University). Fine.