William Wallace Denslow was a prolific illustrator with a memorable oeuvre, but one project of his stands out as one of the most important works of American illustration: his drawings for L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Most of these works are preserved in the Print Collection of the New York Public Library, making extant examples in private hands exceedingly rare. Only four known original illustrations from the Oz series have previously appeared at public auction. Swann is delighted to bring one of these incredibly scarce works to auction in our December 4 sale of Illustration Art.

With Wicked (2024) breaking box office records and its second act, Wicked: For Good (2025), set to be released 125 years after the original Oz series was penned, it’s clear that Baum’s stories are timelessly resonant. It is W. W. Denslow’s whimsical illustrations, though, that have invented the memorable visual language of the Land of Oz. From Dorothy’s long plaits and gingham dress to the flying monkeys with their broad, feathered wings, the artist’s original vision has remained one of the most recognizable and visually striking of all time.

W. W. Denslow’s Early Life

Denslow was born in Philadelphia and traveled to New York, briefly studying at Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design, before pursuing a nomadic career in newspaper reporting. He settled in Chicago, where he earned a reputation as a newspaper illustrator, poster, and book designer. He may have met Baum at the Chicago Press Club, where they were both members.

W. W. Denslow & L. Frank Baum: From Father Goose to Oz

L. Frank Baum, Father Goose, His Book, first edition, Chicago, 1900. Sold May 2016 for $292.00

Denslow had little interest in children’s stories before meeting Baum, but must have been convinced, because their first true collaborative work, Father Goose, His Book, was an incredible tour de force. The collaborators could not find an investor for color printing, so they elected to finance the book’s production themselves. Denslow’s illustrations were fanciful and multicolored, contributing significantly to the book’s status as a bestseller in 1899.

L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, first edition, mixed issue, Chicago & New York, 1900. Sold February 2020 for $6,500.

With its success, the two endeavored to create another great children’s book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which became an even larger triumph. Denslow went above and beyond in creating the visuals for the book, including 24 colored plates, chapter title pages, headpieces and tailpieces, and marginalia, all illustrated in pen and ink and printed in color. Once again, the printing costs were financed by the author and illustrator, with no publisher willing to invest in the elaborate project. It is clear, however, that the increased cost was worthwhile.

William Wallace Denslow, Illustration from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, pen and ink and pencil on paper, published as the first in-text illustration of Chapter 4, 1900. Sold January 2014 for $30,720.

Denslow’s illustrations gave Oz its distinctive look. Of his experience illustrating the book, Denslow said he had to “work out and invent characters, costumes, and a multitude of other details for which there is no data—and there never can be in original fairy tales.”

William Wallace Denslow, “Once in a while she would pass a house, and the people came out to look at her and bow low as she went by,” pen and ink over graphite, Illustration for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Chicago: George M. Hill, 1900), Chapter III, page 33 1899. At auction June 18. Estimate $30,000 to $50,000.

The illustration on offer this June is seen in the third chapter of the classic book, titled “How Dorothy Saved the Scarecrow.” It accompanies the paragraph below:

“Once in a while [Dorothy] would pass a house, and the people came out to look at her and bow low as she went by; for everyone knew she had been the means of destroying the wicked witch and setting them free from bondage. The houses of the Munchkins were odd looking dwellings, for each was round, with a big dome for a roof. All were painted blue, for in this country of the East blue was the favorite color.”

The artwork depicts one of the bowing Munchkins and his “odd-looking dwelling”, an anthropomorphized home with a shocked look upon its face. The illustration marks an important section of the story, where Dorothy is generously welcomed into Munchkinland after a fateful cyclone liberated the detained Munchkins, who were previously subjected to the Wicked Witch’s torturous rule. Though Wicked (2024) takes liberties with the color of the Munchkin homes, the creators stayed true to Denslow’s original vision by making them rounded and with sloped or domed roofs. The parallels between Denslow’s vision and the 1939 film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz are even more plentiful; his illustrations were practically utilized as costume and set designs.

The Wizard of Oz is a profoundly important collaborative work for many reasons. It emphasizes the importance of children’s stories, not just for children, but for culture as a whole. Denslow and Baum created, in the words of the Library of Congress, “America’s greatest and best-loved homegrown fairytale”. Their cast of characters, with their humor and earnestness, and the world they built, enchanting and imaginative, are still recognized and cherished by millions of people over a century after the story was penned.

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