First printing with an emerald green cloth; 16-page gathering and all original 12 color plates present.

"The Gnome King of Oz", by Ruth Plumly Thompson, Founded on and continuing the Famous Oz Stories by L. Frank Baum, "Royal Historian of Oz", illustrated by John R. Neill, published by Reilly and Lee, 1927, first printing with emerald green cloth and 16-page gathering.

Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz is the thirty-third in the series of Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the nineteenth and last written by Ruth Plumly Thompson.

The Famous Forty Canon consists of the forty original Oz books published by the Reilly & Lee company of Chicago.

These original forty titles span the years 1900 through 1963 and five writers - the most prolific ones being Lyman Frank Baum (of course), the discoverer and then "Royal Historian" of Oz; and his immediate successor, Ruth Plumly Thompson. Between them, they related 33 tales from Oz (14 by LFB and 19 by RPT). Also, with the exceptions of the very first Oz tale 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and the final four, the other 35 Oz tales were all illustrated to perfection by John R. Neill.

John Rea Neill (November 12, 1877 - September 13, 1943) was a magazine and children's book illustrator primarily known for illustrating more than forty stories set in the Land of Oz, including L. Frank Baum's, Ruth Plumly Thompson' s, and three of his own. His pen-and ink drawings have become identified almost exclusively with the Oz series.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, John R. Neill did his first illustration work for the Philadelphia's Central High School newspaper in 1894-95. Neill dropped out of Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts after one semester because he said, "they have nothing to teach me".

He became a staff artist of the "Philadelphia North American" newspaper, for which he produced features like the comics strip "Toyland", illustrations for the serialization of 'The Fate of a Crown' (a book by L. Frank Baum), "Children's Stories That Never Grow Old", and the Sunday comics page 'The Little Journeys of Nip and Tuck' with verses by W.R. Bradford (1909–1910). He was first commissioned to illustrate "The Marvelous Land of Oz", the second Oz book L. Frank Baum wrote, published in 1904; "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" had been illustrated by W.W. Denslow, with whom Baum argued and lost contact afterward.

Originally, Neill's illustrations were slightly reminiscent of Denslow's to bring continuity and familiarity to the characters, although Neill's work in this period was far more reminiscent of the work of his contemporary and friend, illustrator Joseph Clement Coll. Denslow's illustrations had been quite popular. However, as the series expanded, Neill brought his own unique flair to the illustrations, showing more artistic representations of the characters as well as beautiful paintings of numerous scenes. In fact, he was later named the Imperial Illustrator of Oz.Dorothy drawn by Denslow appeared to be a chubby five- or six-year-old with long brown hair in two braids. Neill chose to illustrate a new Dorothy in 1907 when the character was reintroduced in Ozma of Oz. He illustrated the young girl in a more fashionable appearance. She is shown to be about ten years old, dressed in contemporary American fashions, with blonde hair cut in a fashionable bob. A similar modernization was given other female characters.

Neill continued to illustrate the Oz books after Baum's death, and his artwork was praised for helping give Ruth Plumly Thompson's books "legitimacy" in the eyes of Baum's fans. Neill would eventually succeed Thompson as the designated "Oz historian" and write several books himself. "The Wonder City of Oz", "The Scalawagons of Oz", and "Lucky Bucky in Oz", which debuted each year from 1940 to 1942, were written by Neill for the firm of Reilly & Lee and are considered part of the "Famous Forty". His last work, "The Runaway in Oz" was drafted before his death, however the full illustrations were never finished. Reilly & Lee decided not to publish the manuscript.

Neill illustrated dozens of books that were not written by Baum. One of the most notable of Neill's non-Baum books was his adaptation of Helen Bannerman's 1899 story, "Little Black Sambo", Neill's edition of "Little Black Sambo", which was published by Reilly and Britton in 1908, included a short story called "The Story of Topsy from Uncle Tom's Cabin".

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Hard boards, original cloth with past-down illustration on the front board (very little soiling and wear); 6.3/4" x 9.1/4", b/w illustrated endpapers [red ink lines and bookstore stamp on the front endpaper: see picture]; the title page is stained yellowish (looks like impression of frontispiece); 282 pages, many b/w text illustrations and full page plates + complete all 12 color plates including frontispiece; a few corner folds, a little soiling, the blank corner of the page 167/168 is cut of [see picture]; good+ / very good binding and condition.