Of the 14 books in L. Frank Baum’s beloved Wizard of Oz series only one was illustrated by W.W. Denslow. As it turns out, it was a big one. For it was Denslow that illustrated the first volume, Wizard of Oz, published in 1900, and visually introduced us to Dorothy and the gang.
Though many of us think of John R. Neill when thinking of Oz illustrators it was Denslow’s “depictions of Dorothy, Toto, and all the other creatures and landscapes of Oz have become so iconic as to be inseparable from Baum’s story.”1
“The success of “Oz” was due as much to Denslow’s pictures as to Baum’s story”, says Michael Patrick Hearn, author of the scholarly “Annotated Wizard of Oz”2
It has remained the most popular of all OZ books.
Hats off to The Public Domain Review for gathering Denslow’s seminal illustrations for our enjoyment.