"The Hungry Tiger of Oz", by Ruth Plumly Thompson, founded on and continuing the Famous Oz Stories by Frank Baum, illustrated by John R. Neill, published by Reilly & Lee, Chicago, 1926, first edition, first state of the first printing.

It is the twentieth in the series of Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the sixth written by Ruth Plumly Thompson.

Points of first printing:

Copyright 1926 w/o additional printings. "The Hungry Tiger" is the final title on the list of Oz books on the last page.
16-page gathering
12 color plates coated on one side only

Points of the first state:

Hyphen in the last line page 21
The word "two" is in perfect type on last line page 252

The tale begins with a usurping tyrant, Irasha the Rough, the Pasha of Rash, a tiny kingdom in the southwest of Ev. The Pasha has a problem: his prison is too full to cram any more Rashers in. His Vizier's solution is to obtain a ferocious animal from nearby Oz to devour the luckless prisoners. Travelling to the Emerald City by his magical "hurry cane", the Vizier lures the Hungry Tiger (first seen in Ozma of Oz) to Rash. However, the Hungry Tiger is too tenderhearted to eat prisoners.
Meanwhile, through an unfortunate series of events involving a winding road and a pair of Quick Sandals, Betsy Bobbin (introduced in Tik-Tok of Oz) and her new acquaintance, Carter Green, the Vegetable Man, end up in Rash, and no sooner do they arrive than they're thrown into the crowded prison. There they meet the Scarlet Prince Evered (known as Reddy), the rightful ruler of Rash. Together with the Tiger, they escape, and have varied adventures with Big Wigs and Gnomes in their search for three magic rubie...

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 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 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. 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) -------- $14.50
Canada: Priority (c.2-6 weeks) --- $27.50
World: Priority (c.2-8 weeks) ---- $37.50

Hard boards, original green cloth with paper illustration on the front board (a little wear and soiling); 6.3/4" x 9.1/8"; b/w illustrated endpapers are creased at the hinges; inscription on the token page “Dotothy Pollenz from her Dad 12/25/27, her name is pencil written on the half-title page; 261 pages with many b/w text illustrations; out of 12 color plates 11 are present [the frontispiece is missing]; some b/w illustrations are hand colored [see photos]; a little wear and soiling, dark brown stain at the blank bottom edge of the last c.30 pages; pencil drawings on the last blank pages, red wax marker on the last page with the list of Oz titles, good condition.