The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Lyman Frank Baum (1856 - 1919), better known by his pen name L. Frank Baum, was an American author chiefly known for his children's books, particularly The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He wrote thirteen novel sequels, nine other fantasy novels and a host of other works (55 novels in total, plus four "lost works", 83 short stories, over 200 poems, an unknown number of scripts and many miscellaneous writings) and made numerous attempts to bring his works to the stage and screen. His works anticipated such century-later commonplaces as television, augmented reality, laptop computers (The Master Key), wireless telephones (Tik-Tok of Oz), women in high risk, action-heavy occupations (Mary Louise in the Country), and the ubiquity of advertising on clothing (Aunt Jane's Nieces at Work).

W[illiam] W[allace] Denslow was born in Philadephia in 1856. Famous for his bold, colorful illustrations for many popular turn-of-the-century children's books, he is best remembered today as the original illustrator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.