Auction Details
Turner Auctions + Appraisals is pleased to present Return to Oz: Part 2 of The Joel Harris Collection of Oziana & Children’s Books on Friday, December 10, 2021. The sale offers over 195 lots of first edition and vintage books, showcasing an enchanting and extensive selection of Oz books. It was curated by Mr. Harris, who is the Director of Special Publications of the International Wizard of Oz Club, as well as an author, long-time collector, and San Francisco Bay Area estate planning and probate attorney
The Oz series was created by L. Frank Baum (1856-1919), a prolific American author best known for his children's books. His first Oz book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was released in 1900; in the introduction, the author stated the book "…was written solely to pleasure children today. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heart-aches and nightmares are left out." In total Baum wrote 14 books in the Oz series – plus 41 other novels, 83 short stories, and more than 200 poems and 42 scripts. Some works were written under various pseudonyms, including Edith Van Dyne, whose Mary Louise books are also offered in this sale. Other books by the author include L. Frank Baum’s Juvenile Speaker, The Boy Hunters in Yucatan, Phoebe Daring, Prince Mudturtle, The Sea Fairies, and others.
Subsequently, a number of other authors have built on and continued the famous Oz stories that Baum founded. These include Ruth Plumly Thompson, John R. Neill, Jack Snow, Rachel R. Cosgrove, Gina Wickwar and others. Their Oz books are also featured in this auction.
Among the Oz highlights in this sale are a rare, limited-edition Oz, the 100th Anniversary Edition; and a deluxe The Wonderful Wizard of Oz pop-up illustrated by Robert Sabuda. Other featured pop-up books are Pinocchio and Jack the Giant Killer and Other Tales.
Books by other acclaimed authors were collected by Mr. Harris’s late wife Christine. Among these highlights are noted A. A. Milne books: a fine first British edition of The House at Pooh Corner in the original dust jacket; The Christopher Robin Story Book; and Now We Are Six.
Other noteworthy books include a quadruple-signed Disney Bambi collectors set; a signed Odyssey of Homer, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth; Two Bear Cubs by Robert D. San Souci; a signed, special artist’s edition of Miracle in Seville by James Michener; Peter Parley’s Universal History, on the Basis of Geography by Nathaniel Hawthorne, in two volumes; and books and sets by several Caldecott Medal winners.