24

Ozma of Oz, though Baum’s third Oz novel, was the first to be conceived as part of a true series. Whereas its predecessor, The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904) was written at a time when Baum was actively pursuing multiple projects for the stage and therefore contains (and, some argue, suffers from) a plethora of theatrical elements, in Ozma of Oz Baum has left the theatre behind and concentrated on writing for his young audience. The result is among his very finest works, and Neill’s lovely, Art Nouveau illustrations offer a lively interpretation of Baum’s tale. Although many of the illustrations in Ozma were indeed printed in color, Neill’s pen-and-ink work for the book was entirely in black and white, with the color being added during the printing process. Once the printing was done, however, the publisher lent out the original artwork to local book and department stores for use in window displays promoting the new book, and for this purpose the artwork was often colored with watercolor or gouache. We know from surviving works that this practice continued at least through the release of the 1915 Oz book, The Scarecrow of Oz. Merchants were expected to return the artwork to the publisher once their displays were removed, but collectors have discovered over the decades that this agreement was not always honored. (See also #40.)