"The Purple Prince of Oz", by Ruth Plumly Thompson

"The Purple Prince of Oz" is the 26th in the series of Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the 12th written by Ruth Plumly Thompson, illustrated by John R. Neill, published by Reilly and Lee, Chicago, 1932, 1st edition with color plates.

Prince Randy of Regalia must prove his right to be a royal. On his adventure-filled quest to fulfill the tasks set him, Randy meets the friendly giant Nandywog, a terrifying monster--then escapes from the city of the villainous Doublemen. He even makes a genuine trip over the rainbow to Oz in the company of the legendary Red Jinn and the incredibly Elegant Elephant Kabumpo. But can Randy pass the seven magical tests as well as save the conquered Kingdom of Pumperdink--and can Jinnicky's Red Magic help him?

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.

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 character, 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.

US: Priority (c.2-4 days) -------- $8.50
Canada: Priority (c.2-6 weeks) --- $27.50
World: Priority (c.2-8 weeks) ---- $37.50

Hard boards, original purple cloth with color pastedown on the front cover [half of the pastedown is missing; cloth wear, especially the edges, the boards are slightly damaged: see photos]; 6.3/4” x 9.1/8”; illustrated endpapers are stained and creased; pencil name on the token page; 281 pages, out of 12 color plates 9 are present [3 plates at the pages 24, 68 and 200 are missing; plate at the page 248 has pen-lines]; page 169 a blank corner missing, black and white illustrations throughout, old dump damage resulted in some staining and bleeding of the plates [see photos]; no smell, very good binding, fair/+ condition.