Title Page

FYI

When I purchased the Land of Oz book, I believed that I had the 1904 version. After researching further, I discovered that although the title page, in the book, has 1904 printed in the book, my edition is the truly the 1919 version of the Land of Oz. The following post is my confusion over the matter. At this point, I had not researched the publisher information, which clarified the difference between the two. However, it is still confusing when the publishing date is not updated.

1904 Title-Page Spread

The title page includes the title of the book The Land of Oz, an acknowledgement of the previous book: The Wizard of Oz, the author's name: L. Frank Baum, and a list of books that he has authored.

This is an oddity, to have the titles of the books that the writer has written before he has written the books. According to my research the Land of Oz was written in 1904, and the next book The Road to Oz was not written until 1909. Why, then, is it included in this title page? Many copies of this book were printed with the publishing date 1904, but the fact that the book includes the other titles suggests one of two ideas: 1.) That the stories listed would be written by Baum in the future, or 2.) that this book is a copy of the original, and published after he wrote all the books, but still has the publishing date set to 1904. In most current day books, there are many editions that have been re-issued. For instance, a book that was written in 2000, that has a new editor page, is reissued again in 2006. There would be two copyright dates, the first edition 2000, and the second 2006. For the Land of Oz book, the copyright date and the publishing date are the same, so it cannot be true that Baum authored all the books during 1904. It appears that the phrase "author of" implies that Baum has already written the books, but perhaps he has not.

The title page also includes the illustrator's name in all caps. There is a commentary "End papers from life poses by the famous comedians, Montgomery and Stone" underneath the illustrator's name.  

 

Back of the Title page is the Copyright Information

Author's Note

The Author's note page is included after the title page. In the Author's Note, Baum discusses his inspiration for writing the book. I think this was necessary since Baum did not bleieve in sequels. The fact that small children were reqesting that he continue, suggests that children enjoyed reading his work--that he was, indeed, a children's author. The author's note allows writers to speak directly to thier audience.

Dedications

In the dedication section, Baum awknowledges the comedians. David C. Montgomery and Fred A. Stone were American actors who played the Scarecrow and the Tin man.

 

Conclusion to the Title Page problem

I am assuming that the copy that I have is not the true 1904 version, even though the copyright date states 1904. The Reilly & Britton Company published The Land of Oz in 1904, but the company changed its name to Reilly and Lee in 1919. The title page of the book includes the publisher's name as Reilly & Lee, not Reilly and Britton. I am now assuming that the copy I have is the 1919 version. According to website rareozbooks.com, before changing its name, Reilly & Britton company published 11 first editions Oz titles. Under its new name, Reilly and Lee continued to publish new Oz books and reprint older titles in the series. My question is, why did they not change the copyright date of the books? Why not change the copyright date to 1919, or add a new edition. The only difference in the book is the publisher's name. I have learned not to rely on the publication/copyright date only to determine the authenticity and history of the book. Perhaps the listing of many different titles that Baum has authored is another clue to detecting the true edition of the book.