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W. W. 

Original Illustrator

of Oz

DENSLOW

24 full color plates

     The 1900 edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was lavishly illustrated. Not only did the book contain 24 color plates, it also included over 100 "textual illustrations" (Baum, 2000, p. xli) intricate color pictures "woven into the text" (Collins, 2017, p. 216). The book's pictures were all printed in color thanks to a deal struck by the publisher, George M. Hill Company. Baum and Denslow agreed to foot the bill for the production of the full-color plates. The duo made a nearly identical agreement with the same publisher the year before for their 1899 work, Father Goose: His Book. (Baum, 2000, pg. xxxii)

 

     L. Frank Baum believed that W.W. Denslow's art was such an indispensable part of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz story that Baum shared full copyright with the illustrator (Collins, 2017, p. 216). In a letter written to his brother in April 1900, Baum boasts the coming publication, "Denslow has made profuse illustrations for it and it will glow with bright colors" (Evina, 2000). Weaving the illustrations into the text was an unusual and innovative technique, many other children's books started to feature the same style (Evina, 2000).

w. w. denslow with signature corn cob pipe

The carefully selected colors in the first edition was a novelty at the time (Collins, 2017, p. 217). Where the chapter took place determined the color of the illustrations: "Kansas is gray; East, blue; West, yellow; South, red; the Emerald City, green; and, the areas between sections, brown" (Evina, 2000).

Use of Color

chapter title pages

Illustration Style

“He combined the clarity of a Japanese print with the decorative elegance and control of Art Nouveau. His bold lines and flat solid colors must have been a relief after the unusual overly sketchy black-and-white drawings that marred much contemporary juvenile literature.”

(Baum, 2000, p. xlvi)

“Den’s panels, circles, and spots, and his solid pages of gorgeous hues with perhaps one tiny figure or object in a lower corner are simply baits to catch my attention through the eye, which as yet gets only general impressions. In other words, my friend W.W. Denslow is an impressionist for babies. He omits all but fundamentals and essentials. He leaves out of his books everything except things that exist in our own little world of fact.”

 

- J.M. Bowles Brush and Pencil’s September 1903 issue.

(Baum, 2000, p. xlvi)

Interwoven illustrations

engraved plates

 Each of the 24 color plates required 4 different plates to produce the final product. The Illinois Engraving Company used a zinc etching or "black plate" for each of the colors: dark blue, red, yellow, and pale blue. It was originally reported that wood engravings were used for 3 of the colors, but an apprentice at Illinois Engraving, Arthur Bernhard, clarified the process used. Bernhard further explained that the Benday process was used to create the gradations The original plates were used for every printing from 1900 until the 1920s. After so much use, the plates had worn out and the entire book had to be reset. (Baum, 2000, p. xli-xlii).

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