Heading:
Author: Baum, L. Frank
Title: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
Place Published: Indianapolis
Publisher:Bowen-Merrill
Date Published: 1902
Description:

[6], 206 pp. Illustrated by Mary Cowles Clark with 20 plates including the inserted title-page. (8vo) original red cloth pictorially stamped in white, green, beige, and black. First Edition, First State.

This copy from Roland Baughman‘s collection of Baum‘s first editions, bearing two of his bookplates. First state copy with section headings as "Book First," "Book Second," & "Book Third"; aside from the dedication leaf & first page of the Table of Contents, there are no textural illustrations. The illustrations were done by a local artist whom Baum met on a visit to Syracuse. Copies of the book are typically found with at least several of the plates printed out of register, resulting in the blurring of affected images, as is the case with some of the plates here. Bienvenue & Schmidt, p. 200.

Soiling to cloth, light rubbing to extremities; front hinge cracked, rear starting, early gift inscription on front flyleaf; very good.