Land Of Oz Book Study: Title(s)

Title(s)

L. Frank Baum proposed the sequel to The Wizard of Oz, which was tentatively called "His Majesty the Scarecrow". A contract between Baum and the Reilly and Britton company was signed on January 16, 1904 (Rodgers, p. 121). To finalize the title for the second book, Reilly and Britton suggested "Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman". However, Baum protested because, his ex-illustrator, W.W. Denslow, took the name for his own book, called "Denslow's Scarecrow and the Tin-Man," which had been recently released. This problem was discussed with Baum, and he decided to name the sequel The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904). The publisher's idea for the original title was used as the subtitle "Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman". After publication, the title was shortened to The Land of Oz in 1906. There are several different covers of the book, since many copies were published. Some books have the title as The Land of Oz with the subtitle "A Sequel to The Wizard of Oz". Other books have the title as The Marvelous Land of Oz without the subtitle. The Marvelous Land of Oz must be the 1904 version, and The Land of Oz must be the 1906. In 1919, when the publisher's name changed from Reilly & Britton to Reilly & Lee the title was The Land of Oz and the subtitle: A Sequel to The Wizard of Oz. These changes in the name of the title is interesting because with every new publisher, it appears that a title change must be made to indicate the edition of the book. Therefore, if the copyright page is missing from the book, looking at the title of the book can give information as to when it was published, and the publishing company who owned the rights to the book. When I searched for the sequel to Wizard of Oz I ended up purchasing the 1919 version The Land of Oz: A Sequel to The Wizard of Oz. I bought the book for $30, which is very affordable. However, through research I discovered that there are few older versions for sale that are expensive. On ebay,The Marvelous Land of Oz book is listed for over $1,000. The older the edition, the more valuable it is today, which is why it is so much more expensive. To determine the original first edition it is important to notice the correct publisher’s name and the order of the title on the front cover, and title page of the book (See Title page post).

1904 1904-06 1919

Adaptations

After the Land of Oz appeared, Baum created a weekly newspaper comic page called Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz, which ran from August 1904 through February 1905 (Greene, p.21). The illustrations were done by a well-known political cartoonist for the Philadelphia North American, named Walt McDougall. Queer Visitors was popular in 1904, because of a contest connected with the page. Each episode featured a problem solved by the Woggle-Bug and ended with the question "What Did the Woggle-Bug Say?" There were prizes for the correct answer. Reilly & Britton advertised The Land of Oz in major magazines and newspapers, distributed a special poster (yellow poster image) designed by Baum's Land of Oz illustrator John R. Neill, and published a song entitled "What Did the Woggle Bug Say?"

The Woggle Bug Musical (1903?)

Below are movie adaptations for Baum's first book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The title is shortened to The Wizard of Oz (1939). This movie is a musical based on the book and incorporated technicolor for the color sequence of the film. Technicolor was invented in 1916, and was used in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952 (Basten). It was used for filming musicals, including Wizard of Oz, Singin' in the Rain, Robin Hood, Joan of Arc and animated movies. Therefore, Baum's work may have inspired the use of color not only in a children's book, but towards flimmakers to add color to black and white film.

The Wizard of Oz (1939)